A section of parents from Bondo region have requested the Ministry of Education to extend the national examination registration deadline.
According to the parents, the deadline should be extended so as to allow them acquire birth certificates for their children to register for the examinations.
The parents noted that the examination registration deadline of 28th February is likely to lock out most of their children from registering for the national exams.
Most of the guardians explained that they had delayed in acquiring the document due to huge turnout of people and the tedious process involved in the securing the certificate.
Some of the parents who spoke to the media expressed concern that they had been turned back severally by staff at the civil registration office because they lacked requirements needed for issuance of the certificates.
Damaris Adhiambo a parent from Bondo disclosed that she has been camping at the offices for the last three days but had not managed to secure the paper.
She disclosed that her house burnt with the birth notification and baptismal card which are mandatory for birth certificate acquisition.
Those hailing from Rarieda and Island areas explained that they have been disadvantaged due to high transportation costs since the process of obtaining birth certificates takes at least three days.
They urged the government to consider issuing the birth certificates at sub location level to save them from unnecessary costs,
Area Civil Registrar of Persons Paul Wamalwa said that they have been experiencing long queues since last week as parents’ try to beat the examination registration deadlines and school admission guidelines.
Wamalwa disclosed that they have been serving an average of four hundred people over the last one week which is ten times more than the people they serve on a normal day.
The registrar also revealed that his office has currently run out of birth certificates because of high turnout and those who have been registered are only issued with a registration number to take to schools as they await the certificates in two weeks.
He advised parents to register their children when they are young to avoid last minute pressure in future.
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