April 14, 2003

Despite the free education policy, pastoral nomads in north-western Kenya find it hard to enrol their children in schools as hunger continues to bite. A 12-year-old girl could as well fetch a few cows for the starving community, writes Susan Mwangi.

As Kenyans mark 100 days of a new government and the free education that came with it, patoralists of Kapenguria in West Pokot district in north-western Kenya have nothing to count.

The region that last had mild rains last November is currently experiencing the worst drought, as far as they can remember.

There is no hope either, as confirmed by the meteorological department towards the end of last month. Weather forecasters had said the expected long rains would not come.

To the nomads, free or no free education, little seems to have changed for better in the education sector, more so to the girl child.

"Girl child education is still a problem in this region owing to the traditional belief that a girl is born for marriage and that settles her life." The District Commissioner (DC) for West Pokot, Mr. Abdulilahi Leloon, revealed during an interview.

Right at age eight, the girl's mother or other family members begin to engage her into marriage talks. At twelve years, she is circumcised, as initiation into womanhood, ready to be married off.

"To such a tradition, education is considered much less in the present situation of uncertainty caused by the drought and cattle rustling, both within the district and from the Karamajong of neighbouring Uganda," notes the DC.

With all the government's effort to fight FGM, the practice is still done underground.

It is no easy task to convince a nomadic father to take his daughter to school instead of receiving cows as dowry for her marriage. The more cows one has, the more respect one commands within the community.

"Until FGM, which initiates girls into womanhood making them ready for marriage, is overcome, we are not likely to witness many girls going to school even with free education," says the DC

The provision of free primary education in Section 7 of the Children's Act 2001 (Cap 586) states that every child is entitled to primary education, which shall be the responsibility of both the government and parents.

According to Leloon, the whole issue of lack of education due to gender difference should be addressed urgently.

He opines that for Education For All to be achieved, a lot have to be done. Social marketing and advocacy has to be applied to educate parents and society at large about free education.

"The government and civil society through local NGOs (non-governmental organisations) working with the community have a responsibility to sensitise communities on the importance of education," observes Leloon.

The district has 250 primary schools and only 15 secondary schools, of which majority are in poor conditions. Some classes are taken under trees.

At the announcement of free education in January, the schools realised great increase in number of students, especially boys.

"Headmasters requested for more food as the previous portions provided too little for the increasing number of students at the beginning of the year," said Rev Samson Lekipuria, chairman for relief project at the Evangelical Lutheran Church Centre in Kapenguria.

"Currently the numbers in schools have gone down, succumbing to drought," Samson noted.

When families move in search of pasture, the children abandon school to follow the rest of the family to whichever destination, not sure whether they will enrol again.

"The only solution to the nomads' children is a nomadic boarding school where children will have to stay even as their parents travel miles in search of green pasture," Lelool recommends.

In the whole of West Pokot District, there is only one nomadic boarding school. A good number of students are missing and the few in class return poor performances.

"Famine in the region has hit its climax. We are grateful to WFP (World Food Programme) for the maize and beans, but it is not enough nutrition for the growing children. They are malnourished and as the future generation, the district is in danger," says the DC.

He says that frequent cattle rustling in the region has made the situation worse noting: "The people are living in constant fear of sudden attack at any time."

"This hinders the district from progressing, as residents can't settle down to any meaningful development," he adds.

The DC however confirms that the government has long term plans of constructing stores for agricultural produce and canned beef industry to boost the economy of the district.

Meanwhile, people have resorted to eating Loma, a wild berry that has to be boiled for about 12 hours to kill potency of poison contained in it.

"We are in need of special assistance from every one, to recover from the present calamity," points out Lelool.

But Peter Mbae of Nowergian Church Aid (NCA) in Kenya, does not see much of international humanitarian assistance.

Speaking last month to officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK) involved in relief aid, Mbae said he was concerned that Kenya did not feature in this year's, WFP donation map.

"To the international community, which includes the donor, this shows that the country does not need much support, yet the situation is dire," he observed.

All Africa News Agency