• The regions need six schools before next year to enable children to attend school.
• Over 55% of children from West Pokot county are not in school.
At least 55 per cent of school-age children in West Pokot are not learning because of lack of facilities, an education stakeholder has said.
Sikom Peace Network programme manager Joseph Akaule told the Star in Kapenguria that four locations in North Pokot subcounty do not have schools.
Akaule said the area needs six schools before next year to allow children access to education.
“Akoret sub-location has no single school and this has promoted us as an organisation to source for funds and set up one in the region,” he said.
He said a lack of access road to the place had made their work more difficult.
“We walk for over five kilometres before accessing the village and this may hinder us from transporting construction materials to the site,” he said.
He said Akoret, Chemororoch, Lopet and Kalapata sub-locations have no schools that admit up to Std 8 pupils.
Akaule said most of the schools in the county are not developed and asked the government to devolve construction of schools to counties.
“Counties are in a better position to know areas that are in dire need of schools,” he said.
He said a lack of education has denied residents from the affected regions employment opportunities.
William Lopetakaou, an elder said, that North Pokot subcounty has the highest numbers of illiteracy levels since the area has few schools and was a closed district for a long time.
Lopetakau said lack of schools had promoted outdated cultural practices that have hindered development in the region.
“Cases of early marriages, female genital mutilation and malnutrition are on the increase in the subcounty due to lack of education,” he said.
Lopetakau said the region had nothing to celebrate during the recent international literacy day that was celebrated in the county.