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Kenyan authorities say a record drought that wiped out millions of livestock and has millions of people in need of food aid is also forcing tens of thousands of children in herder communities to drop out of school. Kenya declared a national disaster from the drought in September last year, but it could also be looking at a disaster for education.
Ahmed Hussein reports from Wajir County, Kenya.
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptKENYA DROUGHT CHILDREN EDUCATION
Kenyan Herder Children’s Education Disrupted as Drought Forces Drop-Outs
TEASER: Sources tell VOA official estimates not yet released show in just three counties in north-eastern Kenya 100,000 children have dropped out of school
PUBLISHED AT: 11/3/2022 at 3:30pm
BYLINE: Ahmed Hussein
DATELINE: WAJIR, KENYA
VIDEOGRAPHER: Ahmed Hussein
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Schearf, Salem Solomon
VIDEO SOURCE(S): VOA Original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO
TRT: 2:45
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NTOES: ))
((INTRO))
[[Kenyan authorities say a record drought that wiped out millions of livestock and has millions of people in need of food aid is also forcing tens of thousands of children in herder communities to drop out of school. Kenya declared a national disaster from the drought in September last year, but it could also be looking at a disaster for education. Ahmed Hussein reports from Wajir County, Kenya.]]
((NARRATOR))
Kenya’s National Drought Management Authority says nearly 4.5 million Kenyans need aid as a fifth failed rainy season in a row marks the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in nearly half a century.
In the village of Quely, in northeast Kenya’s Wajir County, 11-year-old Nadir Mohamed and two of his seven siblings were pulled out of school in August to take care of the family’s livestock.
Their mother Hindiya Abdi says they were forced to move to greener pastures or else the animals would have died, and they would have starved.
((Hindiya Abdi, Drought Victim (Somali, 11 seconds)
“I would have liked the children to remain in school. But we needed their help to survive.”
((NARRATOR))
In the village of Karu, 17-year-old Sadik Dakane arrives at one of the few working boreholes in the area.
He trekked for two hours under the scorching sun to fetch the much-needed water.
((Sadik Mohamed, School Dropout (Somali, 10 seconds))
“I left school when the drought struck. My father moved with his cattle to Somalia, leaving my mother and me behind.”
((NARRATOR))
The U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in an October report says more than 400,000 Kenyan students are affected by the drought and estimates 66,000 have already dropped out of school nationwide.
But the situation for children’s education could be much worse.
Sources tell VOA official estimates not yet released show in just three counties in north-eastern Kenya — Garissa, Mandera, and Wajir — 100,000 children have dropped out of school.
Local activists say this would have a negative impact in the future.
((Hashim Elmoge, Wajir Good Governance (English, 30 seconds))
“If this trend continues, the rate at which pupils are dropping out of schools, then we risk witnessing the largest drop-out rate, the life of an entire generation is at risk and you know what that will mean; producing a generation that does not have quality education and then there will be a burden — you know drug abuse, insecurity, terror networks, radicalization and the whole nation is at risk.”
((NARRATOR))
To lessen the impact of the drought, government and aid groups have been sinking more boreholes and bringing emergency food to herders and their livestock.
But local authorities say the need is too great, and their efforts over the years to increase school attendance among the nomadic herder communities are taking a hit.
((Jilo Roba, Wajir County Children’s Department (English, 9 secs))
“The gains that have been made in the past are being reversed by the current severe La Nina drought.”
((NARRATOR))
Officials and activists worry if rain doesn’t come soon, more herder families will take their children out of school, and it could take months or even years to get them back in the classroom.
((Ahmed Hussein, for VOA News, Wajir, Kenya.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
WAJIR, KENYA
Embargo DateNovember 3, 2022 16:53 EDT
Byline
((Ahmed Hussein, for VOA News, Wajir, Kenya.))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
