Tana River Sub County Children Officer Ms. Maria Mbote has blamed parents for poor performance of their children in national examinations saying they failed to take their children’s education seriously.
Speaking to the press in her Hola office Tuesday, Ms. Mbote said parents whose children were absentees or not retained in classes throughout the education calendar year performed poorly in Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination.
She called on the parents to clear school fees for their children in secondary schools to avoid their children being sent home for lack of school fees because if the children stayed home, the parents would contribute to poor results in national examinations.
The Children Officer urged the parents to visit schools where their children were learning and explain to the school principals why they were not able to clear school fees so that their cases could be known by the Head teachers.
She said parents could be allowed to clear school fees by taking goats, sheep, cow, beans or maize as fees in exchange of cash money so their children could be allowed to remain in class.
She also urged parents who have difficulties in educating their children in boarding secondary schools to take them to Day secondary schools to avoid the challenges of paying high school fees.
On cases of early marriages and pregnancy, Ms. Mbote blamed parents who were hiding the cases and organizing secret early marriages for their daughters saying five cases have been reported in her office and plans were underway to arrest the parents for prosecution.
