Children from arid and semi-arid regions in the country are more likely to be out of school compared to those from other well-endowed parts of the country, a report indicates.
Learners from these regions have also to grapple with lack of teachers and other basic facilities which are widely available in other parts of Kenya, revealed the report.
The report released by the Usawa Agenda Executive Director Emmanuel Manyasa says that more than 40 per cent of learners in these marginalised areas were found to have dropped out of school due to financial constraints.
Findings by the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment come amid major efforts by the government to enforce the free primary education programme, which has recorded notable successes in some advantaged and advanced regions of the country.
It emerged that incapacity to pay school levies continues to force learners out of school, with the report indicating that distribution of reading materials and especially libraries still remains low in arid and semi-arid regions.
The report said that children from humble families also continue to join school late, a situation which affects their learning outcomes and future careers.
Despite major reforms launched by the Kenya Kwanza government, the Usawa report paints a rather dark picture of the general education standards across various parts of the country.
This is just as experts, academics, the government and parents continue to come up with differing opinions on how education could be improved and be made accessible to all children in the country regardless of regions they reside.
Children in marginalised areas such Wajir, Tana River, West Pokot, Samburu, Turkana, Marsabit and Mandera, the report indicates, are almost 10 times more likely to drop out of school due to a myriad of problems.
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By Robert Nyagah
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