Kenya Ministry of Education to track student pregnancies and offenders

Kenya's Ministry of Education is developing a multi-agency information management system to track student pregnancies and the perpetrators of sexual offences against learners. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba stated that the ministry currently lacks a comprehensive framework to aggregate data on reported pregnancies and those accused of being responsible.

Ogamba noted that current monitoring mechanisms rely heavily on teachers and school heads, which he described as not being ‘watertight’. The new system aims to integrate data from several government agencies involved in disciplinary and criminal justice processes, including the Teachers Service Commission, the National Police Service, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Judiciary.

The Cabinet Secretary clarified that an individual can only be formally designated as a perpetrator once a disciplinary or criminal justice process has concluded with a finding against the suspect. The proposed reforms seek to facilitate data sharing across these agencies to improve oversight.