Some Kenyan schools will stay open throughout the Christmas holidays to accommodate hundreds of girls who are scared their family will force them to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) if they go home.

Schools that would have closed more than a month ago for the Christmas break are staying open for the girls, with head teachers being told to make the buildings available and ensure they attend classes.

The danger of female circumcision becomes more acute around Christmas, which is a time for initiation rituals in many communities, the BBC reported.

FGM was banned in 2011, a move that with Kenya's Women Parliamentary Association hailed as a "bold step" for the rights of women.

But one county official Brian Njeru, who has converted all the girl’s schools under his jurisdiction into rescue centres for the holidays, told the BBC girls continued to undergo the procedure in secret.

"This is a deeply entrenched issue that will take time to completely get rid of," he said.

"These days there are no elaborate ceremonies to celebrate girls who have undergone FGM.

"It is very secretive and it makes it very difficult to apprehend those who are behind this."

FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Show all 12 1 /12 FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl cries after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM The traditional practice of circumcision within the Pokot tribe is a rite of passage that marks the transition to womanhood and is a requirement for all girls before they marry Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls are encouraged to leave their hut and make their way to a place where they will take off their clothes and wash during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised in a tribal ritual in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls, draped in animal skins, sit on rocks during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman performs a circumcision on a girl REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman holds a razor blade after performing a circumcision on four girls REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl bleeds onto a rock after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl is smeared with a white paint after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM More than a quarter of girls and women in Kenya have undergone genital cutting, according to United Nations data REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls covered with animal skins squat on rocks after being stripped naked and washed during their circumcision rite in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS