Education Cabinet Secretary Mr. Ezekiel Muchogu is leading a mop-up exercise to ensure 100 per cent transition of learners who are to join Grade 7 under Junior Secondary School and form one are accounted for in Kilifi County.

The CS said the Ministry of Education is tackling the transition challenges through a multi-agency approach to identify and solve the challenges facing learners unable to climb the ladder.

During a meeting with leaders in Kilifi on Thursday, Machogu revealed that the Coast region is an area of focus because more than 30 per cent of learners have not joined school and are yet to be accounted for under Junior Secondary School.

Machogu urged all education officers, elected leaders and administrators to work together to ensure no learner is still at home or missing out of school due to financial challenges.

“We are at the Coast region to seek answers and find a lasting solution to the issues affecting our children. We are giving special attention to Kilifi and Kwale Counties because we want our learners to be in school,” he said.

The Cabinet Secretary affirmed his commitment to work with elected leaders to ensure school infrastructure and performance is achieved in public schools across the Country.

“We cannot work alone. We need to frequently engage our leaders because education is an investment and we must ensure all our learners in every region performs well academically,” he said.

He said the Ministry will make deliberate efforts to undertake frequent monitoring of learners across the Coast region to ensure local schools perform better in KCSE.

Machogu said teenage pregnancies, child labour, high poverty levels and the severe drought requires a concerted effort by all the stakeholders in the education sector to ensure equal access to education regardless of the region.