Machakos county commissioner Esther Maina has cautioned parents against failing to take their children to school.
Maina said all parents, guardians and children caretakers in the county must ensure that children under their care are in school.
She said child education is not optional but the government’s directive.
“The State has pumped lots of money to schools, let children be where the money and government resources are, schools,” said Maina.
She spoke to this writer at her office on Monday.
Maina said education is the best equalizer and inheritance parents can give to their children.
She cautioned parents against letting their children drop out of school after sitting their KCPE examinations.
“Let children get to secondary school, access tertiary education to be useful in society. They are not employable in class eight, let parents see the need for the equalizer,” she said.
Maina said the child’s transition from class eight to Form One currently stands at 80 per cent in Machakos County.
She, however, said the transitional process is continuous hoping it will soon hit above 90 per cent.
“We still feel obligated in ensuring that more children who sat KCPE in 2018 join Form One, I am committed to improving the situation in Machakos County,” added Maina.
Maina said National Emergency Management Information System (NEMIS) access is one of the challenges why some children have not been enrolled to Form One.
“One of the challenges is access to NEMIS, many people didn’t know where their children had been enrolled,” she said.
She cautioned parents against being ignorant of their children’s education.
Maina said parents should stop excuses and blame games as scapegoats to why they fail to take their children to school.
She said poverty is a non-issue for not taking a child to school since the government has made education more affordable.
“Issues of ignorance and the culture of blame games must stop since the government has made education very affordable.
A parent needs to only buy a school uniform for his/her child to get admitted to a day secondary school across the country,” said Maina.
Maina said parents should take child’s education positively since after his/her successful studies he will return to the village and help the community in alleviating poverty.
She warned that the government will take stun action to parents who fail to take their children to school.
“We will take stun action to parents who will be found with their children at home without taking them to school either for pre-school or primary school,” Maina said.
Maina said success or failure in adapting to the changing context of formal schooling has the potential to shape the child’s educational and socio-emotional future.
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