At least 248 primary and secondary school candidates who are pregnant will sit the upcoming national examinations in Narok County.
Statistics from the education department in the county have confirmed that a total of 741 girls in primary and secondary schools in Narok are pregnant.
Out of the total number, 332 are from primary schools and 409 from secondary schools. Furthermore, 140 will sit for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) while 108 will sit for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
Likewise, Narok South sub-county leads in the number of teen pregnancies with 149, followed by Narok Central with 140 cases. Others are Narok West (124), Transmara West (81), Narok East (66), Transmara South (67), Narok North (60) and Transmara East (54).
36,782 pupils in Grade Six, 33,980 in Standard Eight and 12,444 in secondary school will sit this year’s national examinations in Narok county.
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Furthermore, Narok Education Officer Antony Makori noted that there are more boys than girls who will sit the three examinations.
Mr. Makori attributed the difference to teenage pregnancies and female genital mutilation that force girls to drop out of school.
He also said 18,954 boys and 17,828 girls will sit the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment for Grade Six pupils. Meanwhile, 17,284 boys and 16,700 girls will sit the KCPE exam. On a similar trend, 353 boys and 6,054 girls will sit the KCSE exam.
Mr. Makori also added that his office is ready to handle candidates who go into labour during exams and will ensure that they complete the tests.
“We have data on all the pregnant candidates, and we will be closely monitoring them during the exam period to ensure that all goes smoothly,” he said.