Woman Rep urges return of school feeding plan

Isiolo Woman Rep Mumina Bonaya has appealed to the government to revive feeding programmes in schools in arid and semi-arid counties that have been hit hard by drought.

Public schools in the counties have recorded high absenteeism as a majority of households that are predominantly pastoralist, grapple with climatic shocks, making it hard for them to afford basic amenities.

Flagging off a consignment of sanitary towels for more than 400 girls at Mwangaza Girls Secondary, Ms Bonaya said President William Ruto’s administration should scale up humanitarian aid to hunger-stricken Kenyans and schools to ensure learning is not interrupted.

Menstrual hygiene

The Ministry of Education, she said, should provide sanitary pads to schoolgirls because many were missing classes because they lacked the items.

“The provisions will ensure girls remain in school and transit to the highest level,” she said, lamenting that the state and other entities were hardly focusing on menstrual hygiene.

County Director of Education Peter Nyaga, said a majority of parents were unable to provide sanitary pads to their daughters as their priority was food and water.

At least six cases of learners fainting in school due to hunger had been reported across the county in the last one week, he said.

“While we focus on ensuring there is food in schools, providing girls with sanitary towels on a continuous basis is also very important,” he said.

Mwangaza School Principal Janice Kirimi, said the provisions will ensure students remain in school.

Economic shocks

While five 50kg bags of rice recently distributed to the school by the government helped cushion learners from hunger, they only lasted five days, she said.

“A majority of the parents, due to e, have not been consistently paying for the meals, posing a huge threat to the feeding programme,” Ms Kirimi said.

Yvonne Kimotho, a KCSE candidate at the school, said lack of sanitary pads made girls lose confidence in themselves.