As students gear up for national examinations and the end of term three approaches, President William Ruto has highlighted a concerning issue regarding school attendance in Nairobi. Speaking on Sunday, October 13, 2024, after a church service at AIC Milimani, the President revealed that nearly 10,000 children in Nairobi County are missing school.
While he did not disclose the source of this data, Ruto described the situation as alarming and in need of immediate action from his administration.
Ruto’s Urgent Meeting
Ruto informed the congregants that he had called for an urgent meeting with Nairobi’s leadership to tackle the issue. However, he did not provide specific reasons for the absence of these 10,000 children from school.
“I will be meeting the leadership of Nairobi shortly because there are close to 10,000 children who are not going to school in Nairobi, and that is very serious. So I will be meeting the members of parliament,” Ruto announced.
As part of the government’s intervention plan, Ruto indicated that his administration has laid out plans to construct 5,000 classrooms across the city. He emphasized that this construction initiative underscores his commitment to ensuring that no child, especially those from vulnerable families living in informal settlements, misses out on education.
“We have already provided resources, and we want to build an extra 5,000 classrooms in Nairobi to make sure that all our children, especially those who live in informal settlements, go to school because that’s what we must do as we serve humanity and as we serve God,” he reiterated.
