Tana River County Director of Education Isaac Khalif has called on pastoral livestock farmers to leave their school children behind in Low-Cost Boarding Primary Schools to continue with learning instead of migrating with them while searching for pasture for the livestock.
Mr Khalif said the Government launched five Low Cost Boarding Primary Schools in Tana River namely Waldena, Mororo, Mbambala, Walsorea and Assa-Kone in order to ensure that school going children in the pastoralist communities are retained in schools to avoid absenteeism and drop-out cases in the area.
Speaking to the press at his office in Hola, Mr Khalif disclosed that the government provides food in the schools under the school feeding programme to ensure learners stay in school while their parents are moving from place to place in search of pasture for their animals during the dry season.
“We are experiencing severe cases of drop-outs and absenteeism in the pastoralist community schools especially during drought periods when livestock lack water and pasture resulting in parents and the learners migrating in search of pasture”, observed Khalif.
The County Director of Education noted that the government established Low Cost Boarding Schools to counter such cases and enhance learning activities in the pastoral communities in the County.
He said this move will improve enrolment as well as performance in national examinations in schools in the area.
By Simon Guruba
