Chiefs step up hunt for missing pupils

Teams of village elders, head teachers and local national government officers have been mobilised to continue tracking school going children who are yet to report back as learning entered its second week yesterday.

A number of schools have reported missing learners, and head teachers are teaming up with education stakeholders in a bid to trace their whereabouts.

In Vihiga, County Commissioner Ochilo Oyugi said he is leading the team that is currently getting details of learners who are yet to reopen.

Head teachers in the county have been tasked with providing details of missing learners while village elders, chiefs and their assistants have been directed to reach out to their homes using the details provided by schools.

Mr Oyugi said they are targeting among others learners who got pregnant during the long break.

"We are tracing them. The policy is that even those who got pregnant should go back to school," he said.

In Homa Bay, the government is cracking down on premises where learners could have been engaged in child labour.

County Commissioner Moses Lilan said while all primary and secondary schools in the county have resumed learning, some students are yet to report back.

“A majority of those who have not reported back are female students in secondary schools,” he said.

Mr Lilan together with other officials from the Ministry of Education yesterday began a search for the missing students.

The administrator said they will go to beaches and mining sites, where students could be engaged in child labour.

“We are targeting students who are engaged in boda boda business. We call on residents to help us identify children who have not resumed learning.”

Chiefs and their assistant have continued with the search for teenagers who have given birth.

Some 7,400 girls are reported to have been defiled and impregnated between May and December last year. Mr Lilan said all the pregnant girls will have to go back to school.

In Kisumu, school heads are compiling the number of missing learners and submitting the data to respective sub-county education officers.

In Nyando, Kanyagwal chief Boniface Nyandeje said 90 per cent of learners have reported back following a mobilisation drive. He noted that others have relocated after being displaced by floods. “According to our records, a number of students have been transferred after their parents moved to other areas while 10 per cent are yet to be accounted for,” he said.

The administrator noted that they are conducting door-to-door search to ensure that all children resume learning. “I have engaged chiefs to work round the clock while also calling on residents to volunteer information on the whereabouts of learners who were displaced by floods,” he said.

In Kisii County, at least 800 learners have not reported to their respective learning centres in Kenyenya Sub-county alone, according to area Deputy County Commissioner (DCC).

DCC David Mbevi said 500 are from primary schools and 300 from secondary schools.

In Migori County, at least 20 per cent of learners are yet to resume learning, with authorities unable to trace their whereabouts. A multi-agency team has been formed to look into the issue of missing learners, according to county education director Mrs Elizabeth Otieno.

In Kakamega, County Commissioner Pauline Dola said they had initiated a search for learners who had not reported back. “We are using the National Government Administration Office and have directed chiefs and their assistants to comb homes to find out if there is any child of school-going age who is still at home.” She told parents who have not taken their children to school to get prepared to face the full force of law.

Reported by George Odiwuor, Derick Luvega, Victor Raballa, Elizabeth Ojina, Benson Ayienda, Ian Byron and Shaban Makokha