The increased indiscipline and mental cases among children in Kilifi County have been attributed to neglect by parents, Rachael Musyoki the County Executive Committee Member for Education in the County has said.
Ms. Musyoki said that the most affected group were school going children who suffer depression due to parents failing to take critical care of their children hence has led to suicide in some instances.
She said this during the issuance of Sh. 1.5 million school fee bursary from the George Kithi Foundation at Mkwajuni Polytechnic grounds at Takaungu area in Kilifi North Sub County where she called on parents to change the way they treat their children.
“Our children should be treated with at most care since this generation is very different from ours. Parents no longer care about the welfare of their children even after taking them to school and this has made them feel abandoned hence the depression,” she said.
The CECM also urged parents, especially those whose education children were being sponsored by government agencies and the private entities should always ensure that they follow up on what the children are doing so that they can discover what they are going through.
“Parents have left the responsibilities of checking on their children to teachers and this should not be happening since we have noted an increase in depression cases,” she said.
The patron of the Foundation, Mr. George Kithi said that poverty was a contributory factor in the school dropout, indiscipline and poor performance in examinations.
He added that the collapse of manufacturing industries such as the cashew nut factory in Kilifi, the Kenya Oil Refineries company, the Ramisi sugar factory, tourism among others had pushed the area’s population into abject poverty to an extent of them being unable to raise school fees for their children.
“When the industries were up and running, there were no school dropout cases but after their collapse extreme poverty set in forcing parents to struggle to educate their children and many cannot manage to educate their children to this day,” he said.
Mr. Kithi who is seeking to be the Governor of Kilifi County said that he will ensure that all children of school going age attend school despite the financial capabilities of their parents.
“This programme will be running twice a year and we shall rope in other stakeholders but the final solution will be for national and County governments to ensure they carter for the needs of all learners whether their parents have money or don’t have money because the only remedy is to make dependence on bursaries a government project whether private or government for a period of time as we seek solutions to create employment opportunities for our people,” he said.
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