Call for action as 3.5m learners to miss school due to drought

More that 3.5 million children are at risk of dropping out of school in January due to the ongoing drought, Save the Children, a humanitarian organisation has warned.

 A 2021 study by the Global Out of School Children Initiative revealed that already more than two million children aged between four and 17 years have been out of school since the third term of 2021.

  “Kenya is experiencing one of the worst droughts in 40 years. Children are the most vulnerable groups and are usually the most affected in such emergencies,” said  Yvonne Arunga, Country Director for Save the Children (Kenya and Madagascar). 

She added: “Parents have to migrate with their children in search of food, pasture and water for their livestock. This compromises their access to basic facilities such as food, clean water, healthcare and education.”

 The Long Rains Assessment Report by the National Disaster Management Authority has further revealed that an additional 1.6 million children are at high risk of dropping out of school next year. 

Report also disclosed that Mandera, Garissa, Wajir, Turkana and Marsabit, West Pokot, Samburu and Narok counties were the most affected.

 In the report, Save the Children explained that Northern Kenya is worst affected as it is majorly a pastoralist community and thus parents are unable to pay school fees because they have lost their sources of livelihoods while most of the communities have majorly focused on basic survival skills. 

“Every minute that goes by means more children’s lives are increasingly at risk. They are  missing out on education, making them more disadvantaged. We are calling on the government to make every effort to ensure maximised and efficient running of school feeding programmes during drought situations. Most of these children depend on these meals,” Yvonne said.

 Report comes at a time when the 15-member National Steering Committee on Drought Response has been mobilising Kenyans to fund raise for the initiative to help address the ongoing hunger in the worst hit 21 constituencies.

Highest number

Committee has so far received over Sh590 million in just a week after launch of the appeal for donations to boost ongoing hunger-mitigation measures in the hardest hit regions.  

The country  needs at least Sh17 billion between now and January for mitigation measures across the affected regions.

 In its survey conducted in June on impact of the drought in 17 counties, Save the Children disclosed that there is a significant decrease in enrollment in all the counties with an average of 52 percent affected schools across Early Childhood Education, primary and secondary.

Report has linked the high school dropout to inadequate or lack of meals, poor learning environment, lack of teachers, dilapidated infrastructure, resource-based conflicts and climate related emergencies. Water shortage in schools is also a major factor. 

Analysis of water in primary and secondary schools in 17 targeted counties revealed that 460 schools have no water source while 1,896 only rely on harvesting rainwater.