Continuous drought and hunger have adversely affected the performance of many public schools, leading to increased student absenteeism.
According to some reports, the situation in Machakos County, known as arid and semi-arid, has not changed.
The Yatta sub county provincial secretary of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, Michael Ngui, said at least 30 percent of children in county are out of school, and hunger shelters have decreased.
“Machakos County has a high extinction rate, with 30 percent of children not attending school due to hunger,” he said.
He spoke to the media on Friday at a public meeting held in Machakos Girls, with the Presidential Working Committee on CBC.
Ngui, a member of the KNUT National Executive Council representing the Eastern region, asked the government to provide emergency food to schools.
“We want the district and the national government to take positive action to provide food in our schools because hunger is causing the organization. “If we don’t take affirmative action, the standard of education will go down,” said Ngui.
He was accompanied by union representatives from Mwala, Machakos and Kangundo districts.
At the meeting, trade unions from the Machakos KNUT branch presented their views to the committee.
Among the proposals are keeping grades 7, 8 and 9 in elementary schools, hiring more teachers for the Teacher Service Group, and sending 6th graders to nearby schools after testing.
“We cannot teach CBC with the teachers we currently have in primary and secondary schools, we need more teachers,” said Ngui.
He admitted that the previous government had neglected and disappointed teachers across the country.
“Teachers can make CBC successful. If they are ignored, CBC will fail. They should be paid well.”
According to the union, President William Ruto’s government should implement the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated with teachers by the previous government to encourage teachers.
He said that some teachers were given and asked how the CBC would be implemented and some of their colleagues died as a result.
He said, to successfully implement CBC, teachers must be involved, motivated and respected.
“We support the CBC, but we must participate in it to be successful. “Both PP1 and PP2 teachers must work on the 2-6-3-3-3 curriculum by the TSC and be supervised by the elementary school principal,” said Ngui.
Regarding whether boarding schools should be abolished, Ngui said that parents should be allowed to send their children to school with financial resources.
Those who can send their children to boarding school, those who cannot send their children to day school should do so, he said. “Boarding schools have rich resources.
According to Ngui, research should be done before any policy changes in the education sector.
The haphazard government policy leads to failure.
More than 200 students are absent from Nyajaba Primary School in Juja, Kiambu Regency due to hunger.
Principal George Mimi of the school, which has more than 1,900 students, said most of the students were taken care of by their parents.
There are orphans, there are also parents who have abdicated their responsibilities due to alcoholism.
Mimi told reporters that many youths who are suffering from severe drought in the area are lucky to be able to eat once a day.
According to him, the demand for illegal alcoholic beverages produced in the quarry is increasing.
The school principal suggested a regular feeding program in the village school so that no student misses school due to hunger.
A secondary school in the mining area has opened a feeding program under the leadership of newly elected MP Trizah Wanjiru.
Wanjiru, along with Kiambu MP Ann Wamuratha, openly distributed food aid to local residents, while also announcing their intention to build a kitchen in the school so that students do not miss classes.
Legislators are committed to pooling resources to ensure that students have enough food to complete their studies.
Wamuratha said the administration is looking for a permanent food security solution to ensure the country’s stability while providing food aid.
He advised farmers to provide irrigation water from existing wells and dams to increase food production.
*Hunger crisis*
The number of Kenyans in need of food aid has reached 5.1 million.
Two districts, Homa Bay and Siaya, have been added to the list, bringing the total to 31.
The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) reported 846,318 people from Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Kiambu, Machakos, Homa Bay, Migori, Nakuru, Elgeyo/Marakwet and Siaya counties.
Siaya and Teluk Homa joined the 29 affected districts, bringing the total to 31.
According to NDMA data, 45 wards in nine districts have been affected.
As the number of Kenyans affected by the drought increases, the Kenya Red Cross Society and the Grain Mills Association on Friday began distributing food aid to 61,000 students in 150 schools in nine counties to keep schools open during the national examination season.
“I believe we should honor 150 schools with one flag,” said Dr Asha Mohammed.
“As a responsible organization, we aim to support underprivileged school children in various districts by providing nutritious meals during the trial period,” said Kamaldeep Phull, Chairman of the Wheat Mills Association.
The Cabinet of Ministers began its first meeting under President William Ruto by reviewing existing government initiatives.
The Cabinet of Ministers focuses on the issuance of the Dispatch Cabinet Letter regarding the continuation of humanitarian aid including food aid, health and nutrition and water transport to the water supply area.
Government and non-governmental organizations say the failure of the OND [October-November-December] rains has drained resources and staff as the number of Kenyans in need of aid rises.
