 Endeavours to remove barriers such as inadequate trained personnel, poorly maintained healthcare facilities along with other physical, financial and social barriers which hinder access to healthcare services;  Endeavours to increase budgetary allocation to the health sector;  Ensures essential medicines as per the WHO essential medicine lists are provided;  Provides sufficient contraception especially to children to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STIs, and ensure that Family Planning Centres exist throughout its territory and are staffed with adequate and well trained personnel to address the sexual and reproductive needs of children. G. Education, leisure and cultural activities The right to education 24. On the provision of free education, the Committee commends the State Party for the effort it employed in trying to ensure free, compulsory and available basic education, along with subsidizing the registration cost of Basic Education Examination, issuing free school uniforms and exercise books, and providing school children with one free basic meal a day. The Committee also commends the State Party for the development of its Affirmative Action Bill with regards to its provisions on education. The Committee is however concerned that basic education is not truly free or compulsory as hidden charges such as examination fees, extra classes and Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) fees hinder this provision. 25. The Committee remains concerned that the standard of education in public schools is low with inadequate qualified teachers, teacher absenteeism and infrastructural challenges which lead to children studying under trees or in life threatening school buildings along with the distance some children have to travel in the rural areas to go to school. The Committee is further concerned that monitoring of private schools is inadequate and girls drop out of school as a result of pregnancy due to unfriendly environment or being compelled by school authorities. 26. The Committee therefore calls on the State Party:  To ensure that the gains of the Affirmative Action Bill are not outweigh by a resultant discrimination against boys  To ensure that its provision of free education is achieved with hidden cost removed, undertakes to progressively make education free at all levels;  To continue addressing teacher absenteeism and ensure the proper training of all teachers;  To ensure the effective monitoring of public and private schools to improve the standard of education along; 8