There is a need for schools to work closely with National Government Administrative Officers in order to deal with consumption of hard drugs and substance use among students.
Lugari Deputy County Commissioner Moses Gicharu while speaking during EduAfaya forum under National Hospital Insurance Fund in Lumakanda on Wednesday said consumption of hard drugs has increased among students and there was a need for joint effort to fight the menace.
He said that NGAO should help schools to fight the dealers of those drugs who subsequently sell to students in secondary and even primary schools, and expressed regret that consumption of hard drugs, early pregnancy were to blame for the worrying rate of school dropout in Lugari.
The DCC noted that schools should have a close relationship with local government administration so that school going children remain in school to accomplish their studies to avoid interference from hard drugs consumption.
“Our offices are open and school administration should freely interact with us so that we can intervene and share various issues affecting students and teachers,” Gicharu said.
He said that the Ministry of Interior has had close relationships with teachers especially during Kenya National Examination Council exams time, a situation he said should be upgraded into a closer look at the behaviour of our children while in school.
According to him, children remain a big asset to the country and this calls for other state and non-state actors to be giving solutions on how we can keep children in schools.
The DCC said that most issues affecting school-going children in schools can only be solved if all key players which include parents, teachers and local leadership work together.
He said teachers should be well equipped with information so they can share with parents and students their rights and privileges.
Gicharu however thanked NHIF for rolling out EduAfya which gives public secondary schools students the right to be treated freely. He said EduAfya will help students who come from poor backgrounds and are not in a position to pay expensive medical bills.
Kakuu Kimando National Ministry of Education Officer who accompanied NHIF team noted that they are targeting school heads for the success of Comprehensive Medical Insurance for students in Public Secondary Schools.
Kimando said such forums will help in understanding of the EduAfya and find out how they can better the program in future.
More than one hundred secondary school heads drawn from Lugari, Likuyani and Matete Sub-Counties met at CDF Hall in Lugari together with NHIF and Ministry of Education officers to discuss success and challenges of the NHIF EduAfya programme rolled out three years ago.
