By Mwangi
Mwairuri, NAIROBI Kenya
President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta has directed that all pregnant schoolgirls be registered to ensure they access free pre and post-natal care, Education Chief Administrative Secretary, Zack Kinuthia has revealed.
He said in an interview
that the directive is contained in a presidential directive issued
recently, including an order that the national crime research centre come
up with a report on high incidence of child abuse in the country.
“All the chiefs and their assistants
have been directed to register all the pregnant schoolgirls and ensure they do
not fail to access maternal healthcare,” he said, adding that the presidential
communication to that effect has since been relayed to all County
Commissioners.
Kinuthia said the president is worried
that due to the social stigma most of girls in their teens suffer once they
conceive, many could end up failing to get maternal care hence aggravating the
current crisis, leading to birth-related complications.
The directive also stipulates that the
administrators reveal the identities of those behind the pregnancies.
The CAS acknowledged that the government
is aware that many of the pregnant minors live under threat from their
perpetrators, with some extreme cases involving abuse from close family members
and those in authority.
Kinuthia said the data from the
registration exercise will also come in handy in ensuring that all of the
school going girls resume learning once they deliver.
“We are putting our act together as a government and we will seal all these loopholes...We will hit back hard and furiously. But at the same time, the society, starting at the nuclear family, must also play its role in battling this menace,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment