The administration of GK Prison Kitengela primary school has suspended all Physical Education (PE) lessons following increased cases of pupils fainting due to hunger.
The public school with 1,600 learners says it is also recording 30 per cent absenteeism every three days of the week due to hunger.
Notably, the school reports a 99 percent turnout of pupils every Wednesday and Friday when there is a meal of rice, beans and spinach, sponsored by a wellwisher.
“Our PE lessons are now verbal engagement. We have suspended physical activities like football and racing due to high cases of children fainting. The emergency cases have increased and upon first aid, we discovered that the incidents were as a result of hunger,” school head teacher Nancy Ledama said.
On Monday, October 31, a class eight pupil fainted during the 8 am assembly session only for teachers to discover he had not taken any meal the entire weekend.
School teachers have since volunteered to buy a few packets of milk to help resuscitate students who faint from hunger.
The PE lessons are now instead being used for counselling and mentorship of the hunger-stricken children.
The teachers also noted that cases of food theft between peers are also on the rise.
“The few children who can afford to carry some little food to school is also proving to be a big challenge. The hungry lot with nothing to eat steal the food,” deputy headteacher David Kashekwa added.
The school administration is now appealing to be considered among needy learning institutions that require urgent food interventions.
“If we get food relief, we will be able to sustain more children in school. A meal every day will play a huge role in encouraging pupils to report to the school,” Jeremia Maloi, a teacher, said.
