850,000 Learners Out of School in North Eastern Kenya

850,000 Learners Out of School in North Eastern Kenya.

Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera counties in Kenya have 851,045 school-aged children out of school, as highlighted by Members of Parliament (MPs) from the North Eastern region.

The MPs, convened under the North Eastern Parliamentary Group caucus, expressed concern over the state of education in the region during a meeting held in Mombasa.

They noted that while the rest of the country has made significant progress in education, the northern region lags behind.

The MPs pointed out various challenges undermining education in the region, including poor infrastructure, a shortage of qualified teachers, and limited funding.

Eldas MP Aden Keinan emphasized that inadequate educational facilities such as classrooms and laboratories, alongside a lack of teaching staff and insecurity, were significant factors contributing to poor educational performance.

He noted that these issues resulted from poor funding and misplaced government priorities.

Mandera Woman Representative Umulkheir Kassim added that many non-local teachers had left the region due to insecurity, exacerbating the teacher shortage.

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Dadaab MP Farah Maalim also noted that inadequate access to educational infrastructure and insufficient teachers hindered the region’s standard of living, perpetuating poverty and inequality.

Historical Marginalization and Its Impacts

Wajir South MP Mohamed Adow described the current situation as catastrophic, with long-term implications for human capital development in the region.

He said that historically, North Eastern Kenya has been marginalized, especially in the education sector, leading to decades of neglect, economic exclusion, and a denial of basic rights.

He called for government intervention to address this marginalization and demanded that section 95 (2)(E) of the Basic Education Act of 2013 be implemented and integrated into the curriculum framework.

“We also resolve to strengthen adult education programmes and revive low-cost boarding schools which are so far poorly funded and severely dilapidated,” he said adding that it’s time to end neglect of education in the region.

Proposed Interventions

Adow suggested several measures to improve the education system in the region:

• Deploy all trained but unemployed teachers to North Eastern Kenya to alleviate the acute shortage in primary and secondary schools.
• Strengthen adult education programs to cater to out-of-school populations.
• Revive low-cost boarding schools, which suffer from poor funding and deteriorated infrastructure.

He also pointed out that corruption and misguided policies were critical factors contributing to the decline in education standards across the region.

The MPs vowed to continue collaborating with relevant stakeholders to find lasting solutions to the declining education standards in the region.

Keinan, as the chairman of the North Eastern Parliamentary caucus, stated that they would persist in advocating for better educational policies and funding.

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Maalim urged the national government and other stakeholders to take decisive action to resolve the critical challenges facing the education sector in Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera, stressing the need for a commitment to improving societal welfare.

Conclusion

The MPs emphasized that without addressing the educational crisis, the region would continue to face limited opportunities and a cycle of poverty.

They called for a concerted effort from the national government to end the decades-long neglect and provide the necessary resources to uplift the education standards in North Eastern Kenya.

850,000 Learners Out of School in North Eastern Kenya.

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