Lead image for Children with disabilities struggling to access education.
Children living with disabilities in West Pokot County are being hidden at home and denied their right to education as poverty, stigma and misconceptions continue to prevent families from taking them to school.
Some parents keep children with disabilities at home to herd livestock, while others abandon them after discovering that they require additional support, according to school officials and leaders who spoke during a visit to Keringet School for the Hearing Impaired.
The situation has left many children unable to access education and develop their talents, despite some of those enrolled at Keringet demonstrating exceptional abilities in sports, music and other activities.
Kapenguria MP Samuel Moroto, speaking at Keringet School after distributing food and other necessities to the learners, said Keringet School for the Deaf has been of great importance to deaf children across our region and beyond. Its strong academic performance and the school has also excelled in co-curricular activities.
Moroto, who sits on the Parliamentary Committee on Social Protection and the Budget and Appropriations Committee, pledged to lobby for additional resources to improve the welfare and education of children at the institution.
“We do not want to lose even one of these learners. We want all of them to complete their education successfully,” Moroto said.