We write in advance of the 72nd pre-session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights regarding Kenya's compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This submission includes information on teenage pregnancy and access to education, education during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the protection of education from attack.
Teenage Pregnancy and Access to Education (articles 2, 3, and 13)
From 2004 to 2020, the adolescent birth rate in Kenya was 96 per 1,000 adolescent girls and women aged 15-19.[1] This is higher than the subregional rate in East and Southern Africa and more than twice the world rate.[2] Pregnancy is both a barrier to girls continuing their education and often a consequence of girls dropping out of school. Numerous studies have shown that the longer a girl stays in school, the less likely she is to be married as a child or become pregnant during her teenage years.[3]
Kenya has a re-entry policy that allows pregnant girls to stay in school for as long as they want but prevents them from resuming studies until six months after delivery.[4]
The 2009 National School Public Health Policy states that pregnant girls should be allowed to continue with their studies for "as long as possible," that "girls will undergo voluntary medical screening once per term," and that schools should provide special facilities for nursing mothers at school.[5]
In 2020, Kenya adopted the National Guidelines for School Re-Entry in Early Learning and Basic Education, which provide steps to be taken by schools once a student's pregnancy is confirmed.[6] These include, for example, informing the parent or guardian as soon as possible if s/he is not already aware, ensuring access to age-appropriate reproductive health services such as antenatal care, and requiring the pregnant student-along with parents or guardians-to sign a committal letter that she will re-enter school six months after delivery.
Human Rights Watch research shows there is weak implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of this re-entry policy. "Evelina," 17, from Migori county, western Kenya, dropped out of the first year of lower secondary school when she got pregnant. She received no information or advice about policies that allowed her to continue going to school while she was pregnant.[7] Pregnant girls face multiple barriers to staying in school, such as accommodation for breastfeeding, childcare, stigma in schools and communities, and lack of finances.
Human Rights Watch encourages the Committee to call on the government of Kenya to:
- Adopt an unconditional continuation policy that allows students who are pregnant, mothers, and/or married to continue their education while pregnant and after giving birth, and monitor implementation.
- Address social, financial, and systemic barriers that inhibit adolescent mothers from continuing their education.
- Take steps to ensure that schools are free from stigma and discrimination.
- Ensure that adolescents have confidential access to modern forms of contraceptives and information on sexual and reproductive health rights, including through comprehensive sexuality education.
Access to Education during the Covid-19 Pandemic (article 13)
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kenyan schools were fully closed for 28 weeks and partially closed for nine weeks.[8] Human Rights Watch research shows that school closures caused by the pandemic exacerbated previously existing inequalities, and that children who were already most at risk of being excluded from a quality education, such as girls and economically vulnerable children, have been most affected.
