Why is educating East Africa’s nomads so hard?

Nomads make up around six percent of the population of Africa yet most attempts to provide education for them have been unsuccessful. Education for All targets cannot be met until the twenty African states with nomadic populations do more to increase pastoralists’ participation in basic and non-formal education.

A joint publication from the African Development Bank and UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning does not focus on the traditional argument about education for nomads – is it their fault for not being interested, or is it because the education they are offered is irrelevant? It instead assesses progress to provide services to nomadic children and adults in East Africa and suggests ways to try to raise the proportion of nomadic children enrolled in school, particularly girls, closer to national averages.

Most programmes for the education of nomads have assumed that settlement is inevitable and beneficial. However, policymakers need to realise that dryland pastoralism is not all inefficient and that not all pastoralists are chronically poor. Pastoralism is probably a more efficient mode of exploiting arid lands than any currently available alternative.

Pastoralists are not resistant to change. They may often dislike Western delivery systems, but not education as such. Pastoralists will send children to school under certain conditions and for specific purposes. The most important reason for their low enrolment is mostly parents worrying that education will lead children away from their traditional way of life. Non-formal and distance education can help to reduce these fears.

The authors consider the objectives, curriculum, delivery methods, timetabling and relevance of a wide range of programmes. They show that:

• education may pose problems for nomads by being poor quality, culturally distant and delivered in a language that is not familiar in an environment that is not welcoming
• insensitive education can divide families: children may end up distanced from both worlds
• arguments that pastoralists either have a negative attitude towards education, or have rejected it, are outdated and unconvincing
• evidence on the impact of pastoral education projects is limited.

Increasing enrolments among pastoralists must become a priority. Rather than isolated schemes, there is a need for national strategies, developed together with representatives of pastoral communities. Nomadic groups must perceive what they are being offered as an improvement to what they already have. It is vital that education addresses issues of mobility, remoteness, poor teacher motivation, parental ‘ignorance’, child labour and curriculum relevance.

The authors urge educational planners to:

• do more to understand the role nomad children play in their household’s economy and the reasons why they do not attend  school
• take education to children, instead of only offering the option of coming to distant schools – thus forcing them to abandon herding
• provide a mixture of open and distance learning with a short period of residential schooling
• offer greater formal recognition of achievements in non-formal education
• allow parents to remain involved with the physical and moral security of their children (especially girls)
• realise that public policy can stimulate and reward change in traditional attitudes that devalue girls’ education.

Source(s):
‘The Education of Nomadic Peoples in East Africa. Review of Relevant Literature’, International Institute for Educational Planning, by Roy Car-Hill and Edwina Peart, 2006 Full document.

Funded by: African Development Bank (ADB)

id21 Research Highlight: 2 March 2007

Further Information:
International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)
7-9, rue Eugène-Delacroix
75116 Paris, France

Tel: +33 1 45 03 77 00
Fax: +33 1 40 72 83 66
Contact the contributor: information@iiep.unesco.org

International Institute for Education and Planning (IIEP), France

Roy Carr-Hill
Lifelong Education and International Development
Institute of Education
University of London
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7612 6631
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7612 6632
Contact the contributor: roycarrhill@yahoo.com

Lifelong Education and International Development, Institute of Education, University of London, UK

Roy Carr-Hill
Lifelong Education and International Development
Institute of Education
University of London
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7612 6631
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7612 6927
Contact the contributor: roycarrhill@yahoo.com

Other related links:
'Is education compatible with pastoralism?'

'Moving in the right direction? New approaches to nomadic education in Ghana'

'Education provision to nomadic pastoralists: a literature review'

'Nomads and Education for All: Education for Development or Domestication?'