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North-Eastern Drought Hits Education Sector

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North-Eastern Drought Hits Education Sector

North-Eastern Drought Hits the Education Sector

Form four students in the vast Mandera county have their future jeopardized due to the severe drought that has plagued the region for nearly four years.

The North Eastern region has some of Kenya’s lowest school enrollment and retention rates, and students who have completed secondary school are having difficulty advancing to college and university.

The majority of pastoralist families in Mandera have lost their livestock due to the country’s worst drought in over 40 years. Mandera county accounts for approximately 800,000 of the country’s at least three million livestock deaths.

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Some students who have completed the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) face a bleak future after their parents were forced into abject poverty by the ravaging drought.

Students with financially capable parents have already enrolled in colleges and universities, but there are so many who are still at home due to fee balances.

In Bura Abor, approximately 50 Form Four leavers are idling at home. Girls are more affected by the situation than their male counterparts.

Sahara Noor, 19, who just finished her studies at Khalalio Girls Secondary School, is unable to enroll in any higher education institution because her KCSE result slip is being held at the school due to an outstanding fee balance.

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“It has been a year now and my parents cannot afford to clear it after the death of our livestock,” she says.

She’s concerned that if her parents do not settle the debt, she’ll be married off to an old man in the village.

"I am hopeful that I’ll get well-wishers to clear my balance so I can join college,” she adds.

According to the report, Mandera East is suffering from an extreme vegetation deficit.

Mandera West, North and Banisa, Mandera Central, Kutulo, and Lafey sub-counties are suffering from a severe vegetation deficit since the month of March 2022.

North-Eastern Drought Hits Education Sector

North-Eastern Drought Hits Education Sector

As a result, children are bearing the brunt of the drought’s effects, with their educational advancement jeopardized.

Her struggles are similar to those of 25-year-old AbdiFatah Hussein, who received a C+ in the 2015 KCSE examination but was unable to attend university due to poverty.

“I am farming along the River Daua and the little proceeds are used up to purchase my sick mother’s medication.”

“My parents are old and I am the breadwinner in our family,” says Hussein.

His requests to the school principal to release his result slip were ignored.

He has accumulated a balance of Sh34,000, but his family’s basic needs take precedence over his desire to further his education.

“So many children in this location have cleared secondary school but they are still at home due to lack of fees.

"There is no financial help coming apart from the occasional food donations,” says Abdi Rashid Adawa, a resident of Bura Abor.

Pastoralism provides a living for the majority of the region’s people, but it has been harmed by the negative effects of climate change.

According to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), the total number of livestock deaths during the drought period was 139,065 cattle, 36,580 camels, 24,151 donkeys, and 559,072 shoats.

According to the NDMA report livestock are dying in large numbers, and communities fear cattle will be wiped out in Mandera County soon.

There have been numerous unreported deaths in the rangelands.

The remaining five million livestock in Mandera is also on the verge of extinction.

Drought was declared a national disaster by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2021, but Mandera governor Ali Roba says the declaration has had no effect.

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Roba explains that non-state actor funding was drastically reduced after Kenya was designated a middle-income country, leaving the county with limited resources to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.

Water tracking, food relief, animal off-take programs, and borehole drilling are among the interventions he says can help the communities.

Mandera County Commissioner Onesmus Kyatha declared the county’s drought an emergency.

“The economy of Mandera relies on pastoralism, and the loss of animals has strained people. About 439,000 people are in dire need of food,” said Kyatha.

North-Eastern Drought Hits Education Sector

North-Eastern Drought Hits Education Sector

According to the commissioner, the national government assists approximately 27,739 households through the cash transfer program, and a large population receives assistance from non-governmental organizations.

Security has been impacted because of inter-clan conflicts caused by diminishing pastures in the Mandera North and El Wak areas.

Even in the midst of a severe drought, cultural barriers prevent locals from selling their livestock due to the long-standing value placed on animals.

Local leaders are now suggesting that pastoral communities look into alternative sources of income to help them cope with the drought.

Residents in some parts of the county, particularly along the River Daua, have already embraced agriculture.

North-Eastern Drought Hits Education Sector

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