Slum primary school dropout in relation to Alcohol, Drugs and Substance Abuse (ADSA): A Case of Murogi slums in Nakuru, Kenya

Background
My observation is that the largest billboards in Kenya are liquor billboards explaining somewhat the rising consumption of alcohol in Kenya. This has burdened the nation with diseased parents who are raising children under the influence. This complicates parenting among poor families in the slums who couple up alcohol with other hard drugs. A recent finding pointed to serious school dropout among children in primary school. 

Objective
“I cannot attend school because my parents are poor and alcohol addicts.” The purpose of this research was to qualitatively interrogate the impact of alcoholism in primary school dropout rate in Murogi slums in Nakuru, Kenya.

Method
Using thematic content analysis, we had six focus group discussions with 70 pupils, 40 parents, 12 teachers, 2 county officers and 3 social workers who were conveniently sampled. 

Results
Most pupils confirmed that they had dropped at least for two terms from school because their drunk parent was absent whenever they were drunk.  Half of the parent population confessed that they needed to remain high even when their children missed school. They used alcohol to cope with poverty.  A small number of pupils used alcohol to deal with traumatic experiences at home and at school. The county officers reported that they held some parents in custody who caused chaos while drunk. Some teachers in primary school reported weekly absenteeism of more than 3 pupils a day at a time.  Some pupils even missed a whole term. The social workers were nagged by more than half of the parent’s population to buy them food because they had used their food money on alcohol. 

Conclusion
Poverty and drunkenness seem a pair that sabotages education of primary school children in Murogi slums. This condition deserves intervention from all country workers and psychosocial support from social workers as intervention.