Gender
Learning to improve policy for pastoralists in Kenya
Delivery of primary education for girls should be more responsive to the nomadic way of life
Authors:
I. Leggett
Publisher:
Oxfam, 2005
Expansion of primary education provision in Kenya from the 1960s dramatically increased participation overall. However, the policies that underpinned this expansion proved to be inappropriate to the circumstances in Kenya’s pastoral districts, and failed to realise the right to education of children, especially girls, who lived there. This chapter, from "Beyond Access: Transforming Policy and Practice for Gender Equality in Education", examines policies on primary education provision and participation in Wajir District, North Eastern Province of Kenya, where primary-school participation rates are the lowest in the country.
The study finds that three factors were key to low participation rates: poverty; gender bias; and mobility. However, the investigation starts from the premise that a way needs to be found to reconcile the provision of education with the pursuit of pastoralism: an alternative approach which seeks to be responsive to pastoralists’ needs and priorities, rather than seeking to transform pastoralism itself.
It argues that, while a new financing policy for primary education may go some way to addressing the barrier of poverty, the Kenyan government will need to develop far more imaginative approaches to the provision of education to address the remaining obstacles of gender bias and mobility.
First, there is a need for initiatives designed to increase the participation of girls, rather than to increase participation generally. This will include devising a policy framework that specifically recognises and addresses the extent of the bias against educating girls in North Eastern Province and other pastoralist districts. The author points to the success of the Girls’ Primary School as evidence of the potential of initiatives that specifically target girls.
Secondly, the Kenyan government cannot continue to expect pastoral communities to adapt their way of life as the price for gaining access to education. Rather, education policy should accommodate the pastoral culture and way of life by making available ‘alternative programmes’ and a ‘variety of delivery systems’ as encouraged by the Jomtien Declaration. To date, however, efforts to provide pastoralist children with an education on terms that are consistent with their lifestyle have been confined to small-scale, innovative projects that are often run by community groups, funded by external NGOs. The success of alternative programmes such as mobile schools and learner centres are described; significantly, some have resulted in more girls than boys participating in education, suggesting that alternative and informal approaches might be especially important for achieving gender parity.
Finally, the chapter advises that policy makers need to listen to the concerns and opinions of pastoralists if they are to ensure that education will have a complementary relationship to pastoralism.
