School enrolment hit by drought in northeast

Persistent drought in northeastern Kenya has restricted many children from attending school, wiping out previous gains in enrolment rates, UNICEF reported on Tuesday. The UN agency said in its Kenya Emergency Update for September that increased food insecurity meant that children were required to work in order to supplement family incomes, and so were unable to attend school. “The current drought causes poor educational performance. This is because in emergencies, survival priorities also often supercede educational imperatives,” the report stated.

UNICEF quoted the Kenyan government’s Ministry of Planning and National Development as saying that enrolment in primary education in drought-stricken Wajir had fallen by 10 percent over the last year, eroding the gains made in the last six years. Enrolment rates in the District were now below those of 1996, it said. UNICEF said it had provided US $200,000 in school supplies under the ‘African Girls Education Initiative’ to encourage children to return to school.

The WFP has also been attempting to protect the education sector from the drought and post-drought crisis in Kenya through an expanded school feeding programme. From the start of the third school term this week, it hopes to reach 16 districts with lunchtime meals for some 1.3 million children in 4,700 schools.