Hope 4 Africa Blog

Forsaking all of education…..a story from a Kenyan school

An initiative that rescues girls from early marriage has boosted enrolment at Narok's Naikarra Primary School

Published on 23/12/2009

By Harold Ayodo

If it were not for the intervention of her head teacher, Evelyne Nekapi, 12, would be married.

Having resigned herself to the inevitable, the Standard Three pupil was going through the motions at a dowry ceremony at her soon to be marital home when her head teacher came to her rescue.

Nekapi, 12 is among 29 girls who have been rescued from early marriage at Naikarra Primary School.

“My father accepted cattle from an old, polygamous man as dowry for me,” she says

The prefect, who has topped end of term examinations since returning to class at the beginning of the year, says being married off was the lowest point in her life.

“I am happy to be back in class and chasing my dream of becoming a doctor,” she says. But Nekapi wishes things were different and she was not estranged from her family.

Janet Kandiru too escaped early marriage.

“I wanted to become a doctor but my father had other plans for me. He forced me out of school and married me off,” says the Standard Six student.

The girls live in fear that their parents or husbands may snatch them from school.

Five girls

Head teacher Lontubu Koileken has rescued five girls from early marriage over the past three months. “Most of the girls are married off immediately after they undergo Female Genital Mutilation,” Koileken says.

The rescue missions have increased enrolment of girls in the school, which had seen only a handful of students sit KCPE since it was established in 1973. “We have 678 male and 409 female students. Six girls sat the just concluded KCPE examination,” Koileken says.

The best girl in KCPE last year scored 298 of 500 marks and joined a provincial institution in Rift Valley.

The school supports the girls who have been branded as outcasts. “They cannot go back home because their fathers who had already accepted dowry of cattle and blankets would return them to their husbands,” Koileken says. One being rescued the girls are taken for medical check-ups and counselling before being admitted to the boarding school. “We have counsel other pupils to welcome them, says.

During school holidays they stay at Tasaru (rescue) centre in Narok town during vacations. “There they undergo more counselling,” Koileken says.

The headmaster says he has received both support and hostility for her efforts.

“Villagers scoop soil from my footpaths to bewitch me for breaking a young marriage,” he says. The headmaster seeks support from the provincial administration when her rescue efforts are in thwarted by armed men.

Narok South District quality assurance and standards officer Jackson Shunet says urges more schools to re-admit such pupils.

“We encourage headmasters to report instances of early marriages to the District Commissioner or the District Education Office,” Shunet says.

He says cases of early marriages are rampant in Naikarra and Oldekeresi locations in Narok. “We have started sensitising parents that it is their responsibility to educate their daughters for a better future,” Shunet says.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 24th, 2009 at 11:49 am and is filed under News in Kenya. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.