Pokot elders from Tiaty constituency want to petition the government to ensure that Pokot children get education through affirmative action.
According to resolutions made, the elders are keen on pushing the government to ensure that Tiaty is considered for Affirmative Action.
Speaking to Education News, Henry Losikiriatun and Musa Amakon are keen to push a petition to the County Government of Baringo under Governor Benjamin Cheboi, to ensure that Tiaty constituency is considered for Affirmative Action.
They are keen to ensure that school fees payment by parents for any Pokot child joining secondary school within Tiaty is suspended.
According to Losikiriatum who is also a board member of the Kenya Film classification board, it is very sad that though many secondary schools are being constructed in Pokot land, very few Pokot children are able to join the secondary schools because they cannot afford to pay school fees.
If that trend is allowed to continue according to Losikiriatum, very few Pokot children will be able to access secondary school education and be in a position to transition into Universities and other institutions of higher learning.
“What happens when a Pokot child is sent home for school fees?
That child is unlikely to return to school at any given time of his or her life.
If they cannot afford that commodity called education, that commodity must then be forfeited for traditional education.” The elders explained
The Pokot child is better off at home learning the traditions of his long-departed grandfathers, mostly the migratory routes and where they grazed their cattle in times of drought.
A parent of a Pokot child living in Riong’o cannot walk or afford to travel to a school far away in Barpello or Nginyang, just to reason with the Principal about the unpaid school fees.
They said that narrative must change.
By Jeremiah Chamakany
jeremiahchamakany@gmail.com
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