• The right to education is considered universal no matter the status or background. Therefore discrimination or exclusion is punitive.
• However the nature and the environment in which our ASAL children is not the best.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Historical and unprecedented factors continue to be obstacles to the realisation of constitutional rights such as education of our children in the arid and semi-arid parts of the country.
Article 55 (a) of the provides affirmative action as the best tool to shield those who are disadvantaged in one way or the other from achieving various levels of education.
The right to education is considered universal no matter the status or background. Therefore discrimination or exclusion is punitive.
However the nature and the environment in which our ASAL children is not the best.
For instance the manner in which they cover the syllabus is diverse from their counterparts in other areas. For them, they continue to face challenges in accessing quality education owing to the poor environment and lack of enough teachers.
The shortage of teachers in these areas is attributed to insecurity and harsh weather conditions that discourage non-native qualified persons to take job offers. ASAL areas also have very low numbers of persons who meet teacher training qualification requirements.
Similarly, children in these areas have to endure tough conditions such as inadequate infrastructure and social amenities in addition to the hostile weather conditions.
Based on this prevailing issues alongside the constitutional framework, the Ministry of Education had in 2019 proposed that there be an affirmative action programme to cushion ASAL learners.
This was an idea fronted by the former Education CS Amina Mohamed, who in her wisdom proposed that aspiring teacher trainees from these areas be allowed to join college with lower qualifications. In her proposal, she recommended that the government lowers the entry grade from the current C plain to grade D+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.
And due to lack of interest from stakeholders, Amina’s proposal was not effected.
Nevertheless, time has come for the government to consider the suggestion because through it, we stand to accrue many benefits. This is the reason the government is seriously re-looking at ways of ensuring that this perennial problem of teacher shortage in ASAL areas is permanently addressed.
First, the immediate action plan include admission of interested candidates who have attained grade D+ and above into primary teacher training colleges. This preferential admission will increase those enrolling in teacher training courses from the region.
To realise this, the Teachers Service Commission will have to review its recruitment requirements and adopt policies that address the challenge of teacher shortage in ASAL areas.
Second, the ministry intends to uplift the status of the learning environment in ASAL counties by collaborating with MPs through their constituency development kitty.
More resources from the Education ministry and NG-CDF coffers are being channeled to infrastructure and social development of learning institutions in these counties.
Third, the Ministry considers that successful roll out and implementation of the competency-based curriculum requires of trainers not to ignore the use of local languages in demonstrating and instructing learners.
For this reason, local teachers are very vital. TSC should thus prioritise recruitment of local teachers when vacancies arise.
They are a significant tool to CBC due to their understanding of local language in explaining concepts, ideas and knowledge to the learners.
Additionally, the government is putting up the necessary measures to ensure that safety is restored in these counties.
We are working closely with relevant security agencies as well as ASAL residents to combat terrorism activities.
Terrorism disrupt learning and instil fear in school instructors thereby discouraging them from effectively carrying out their duties and responsibilities to educate our children. It’s imperative that the Ministry of Education in collaboration with other government agencies continuously ensures that the safety of the teacher and the child is assured at all times.
As a government we assure our children, teachers and guardians from the ASAL counties that such challenges will be sorted out in due course. Hence moving forward the learning environment will be equitable, providing the same opportunity to our children in ASAL areas to achieve their goals.
The writer is the Chief Administrative Secretary at the Ministry of Education