Parents in Mombasa County have welcomed the move by the Ministry of Education to invite form four leavers wishing to join the teaching profession to apply for training.
The parents said the training will help their children who have just finished school to take up teaching jobs and avoid being lured into joining criminal groups and indulging in drugs.
Musa Mohamud, a father of two said the training will help the youth in getting teaching jobs and prevent the youth from being recruited into illegal groups and falling prey to drugs and substance abuse.
Mohamud, whose son finished form four last year, urged other parents to allow their children to undertake the training to boost their future career dreams as well as a way of keeping themselves busy and productive.
“The training will ensure that the youth keep themselves busy after school in order to avoid them indulging in drugs and alcohol or irresponsible sex and also criminal activities,” said Mohamud.
Waridi Abdalla, a mother of three said many youth in the Coastal region have been affected by drugs and are engaging in criminal activities.
She said keeping youth busy will prevent them from being soft targets for Al-Shabaab recruitment.
Waridi urged the youth to shun drugs and instead engage in activities that can empower them saying the youth have a role to play in the economic development of the county.
“Saving school leavers from drugs and crime is the best way to secure the future of the society. It is not only the responsibility of parents but the entire society to advise young people in the right way,” she said.
The Ministry of Education has invited form four leavers wishing to join the teaching profession to apply for training which will start on April 11, 2016.
The prospective P1 teachers should have attained a mean Grade of C in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.
Visually and hearing impaired as well as totally deaf and blind applicants should have attained a mean grade of C- in KCSE to apply for the training.