Today's Headlines
- Two Exhibitions Are On At Ramoma, Nairobi
- Country to Review Tourism Law
- Econet Wireless Finally Rolls Out
- Odinga Warns of Civil Unrest
- Mulee Rules Out Harambee Stars U-Turn
- Taking Up a Women's Agenda
- More Than 6,000 Christian Youth Converge for Prayers
- Catholic Church Outraged By MPs' Refusal to Pay Tax
- Pope Benedict Praying for Release of Abducted Nuns
- Thousands Flee Amid Fears of Border Clashes
- Malaria Rates Plummet Among Children
- Winning Against HIV Stigma Behind Bars
- First Congress of Federation of African Journalists a Historic Milestone, Says IFJ
- Archbishop Lele Urges State to Act as Food Crisis Bites
- Regional Workshop Focus Border Management, Irregular Migration
- Silverbird Acquires Kenya's Nu Metro, Starts Operations in Ghana
- Raila is Evil, Says Minister
- Man Charged With Abduction of Two Catholic Sisters
- UN Censures State On Torture
- Agencies Seek $390 Million to Offset Climate And Food Risks
- UN-Backed Scheme Gives 3,000 Prisoners Clean Water and Sanitation
- Samosa Festival is On in Nairobi
- Heartstrings in Another Comedy
- Govts, Investors Engage RVR in Rail Bid
- Mwangi Replaces Mwebesa At NSE
- Riepa Hosts Business Association
- ICTR Petitions UN for Arrest of Kabuga
- UBA to Invest SH360 Billion in Kenya
- Free Movement of People Too, Not Just Goods and Capital
- Judges Running Out of Money?
Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
May 5, 2008
News Article
An unknown number of school children affected by post-election violence might miss national examinations this year if the government does not act quickly to enroll them, a Catholic teachers' human rights network said.
Pamoja Initiative said 19 secondary and 10 primary schools in Molo District alone have not registered pupils for national exams. Statistics are not available from other areas that were hit by the turmoil that displaced some 350,000 people.
"The Kenya national Examinations Council (KNEC) should by now have put in place measures to ensure that no candidate who has for the past eight or four years prepared for these examinations will be denied the right to take the examination later this year," the network said.
Pamoja Initiative brings together teachers affiliated to the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the Catholic dioceses of Lodwar and Nakuru, the Association of Sisterhoods of Kenya and the Catholic charity Trocare Ireland.
The network said the government should urgently carry out a comprehensive census on the number of children affected and institute measures to ensure they did not miss the exams. The state should also find out the effect of the post-election crisis on school enrolment, attendance and staffing and take remedial action.
The violence had a huge psychological impact on school children. The national exams body should embark on a long-term study of the effects of the chaos on performance in this year's examinations, Pamoja Initiative said
"It will also be useful to document how other learners, besides the 2008 candidates, will recover psychologically from the violence by tracking their behaviou in schools at the consequent performance at national examinations".
The network also called for protection of the rights of displaced children living in camps. "We wish to draw the attention of different duty beares in different arms of government to the fact that the Children's Act 2001 places responsibility on the government and Kenyans to ensure that children's right to food, healthcare, safety and security, right to be protected from child labour, sexual exploitation etc, are safeguarded."
