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Almost 1,130,000 children between six to 13 years are out of school, a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) shows.

The report says the situation worsened due to Covid-19 lockdowns followed by drought in some regions.

A joint study by the government, Unicef and the National Council for Nomadic Education in 16 counties found that pregnancy, child marriage and child labour were the primary reasons children left school. Other challenges cited were unco-operative parents, negative attitudes, poverty, insecurity and nomadic lifestyles.

The counties studied included Baringo, Bungoma, Garissa, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kilifi, Kwale, Mandera, Marsabit, Narok, Samburu, Tana River, Turkana, Wajir and West Pokot, as well as informal settlements in Nairobi.

Food shortage has also caused havoc to education in arid areas as pastoralists move away from schools in search of pasture and water.

Close to one million children aged 6-59 months are acutely malnourished, according to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), in drought-hit counties.

In its monthly report for June 2022, NDMA says the drought situation worsened in 19 of 23 arid counties.

“Some 942,000 cases of children aged 6-59 months were acutely malnourished, with 134,000 cases of pregnant or lactating women acutely malnourished and in need of treatment,” the report indicates.

“All children have the right to education but for many in Kenya, Covid-19 and drought are making this an ever more distant dream,” said the Unicef representative to Kenya, Maniza Zaman.

Early this year, a programme to get 250,000 out-of-school children back to class by the end of 2023 was launched by the Government, Unicef and other partners. 

“The longer children stay out of school, the harder it is for them to go back,” said Prof George Magoha, then-Cabinet Secretary for Education, during the launch.