Mt. Elgon School Faces Crisis with 54 Teen Pregnancy Cases
Bungoma deputy governor Pastor Jennipher Mbatiany has condemned the region’s high rate of teenage pregnancies, blaming it to bad parenting.
According to a recent report from the Ministry of Health (MOH), St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Chesikaki ward, Mt. Elgon Constituency, recorded 54 teenage pregnancies this year.
According to the report, 31 students at the school are teenage mothers, 20 are pregnant, and three have dropped out.
The deputy governor, who is from the Mt Elgon region, claims that the cases are common in the schools’ surrounding forests.
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Mbatiany told the press on Tuesday that the County government had taken action and had begun sensitization among school-going females during this lengthy break.
Mbatiany confirmed that her office has collaborated with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the national government to survey every school in Bungoma in order to register existing cases and identify the root cause of this concerning trend.
“Bungoma is now on the map for the wrong reasons and my office and the gender department will not rest until we find out what is wrong in our schools,” she said in a statement.
Mbatiany urged the national government to work with the county government to find a long-term solution.
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She highlighted that day schools predominantly report the majority of teenage pregnancy cases, with perpetrators exploiting the girls during their journey home.
Ministry of Health data from 2021 reveals that 596 girls between the ages of 10 to 14 experienced pregnancies, while 13,458 pregnancies were reported among those aged 15 to 19, resulting in a total of 14,054 cases.
In 2022, 341 pregnancy cases of girls aged 10-14 and 11,762 instances of females aged 15-19 totaled 12,103.
According to the research, 196 girls aged 10-14 became pregnant between January and July 2023, while 7, 270 girls aged 15-19 became pregnant.
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Mt. Elgon School Faces Crisis with 54 Teen Pregnancy Cases
