𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬

𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬

The Samburu Girls Foundation has launched an ambitious educational program to ensure there is 100 percent enrollment of students, retention and transition to secondary education in Samburu County.

The program dubbed Nabulaa Accelerator Learning Program (NALP), which targets out-of-school children between 10 and 14 years old, will be rolled out in six wards in Samburu County, targeting 500 students per year.

A Programs Officer, Mercy Wanderi, at the Samburu Girls Foundation (SGF) said that Samburu County was unique and in need of an accelerated education program because 40 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 17 years were out of school.

According to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) 2022, the high out-of-school children in Samburu County was caused by cultural barriers and gender inequalities such as child marriage, which is at 31.9 percent, teenage pregnancies at 50 percent and a 75.6 percent Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) prevalence.

Boys herding responsibility was also a contributing factor with some being groomed into toxic moranism.

“Other contributing factors to out-of-school children include poverty, climate change, insecurity which disrupts school attendance and minimum parental support being common as they do not see the value of education,” Wanderi said.

Wanderi noted that in Samburu County most children enrol in school when they are between 10 and 12 year’s old and the education ministry has no guidelines in terms of accelerated learning so they are enrolled in pre-primary 1 with three-year-olds while their peers are in grade four and above.

“Our accelerated learning program is a unique and targeted approach where our students cover the course work of PP1, PP2, Grade one and grade two in just one year and then they graduate into mainstream school. We motivate them by reducing the six years of primary school to just four years for them to catch up with their peers.” She said.

She further noted that Samburu Girls Foundation has been piloting the NALP for eight years working closely with the Ministry of Education (MOE) noting that NALP is anchored under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).

“After receiving foundational literacy and numerical skills, girls who are over 15 years old are transitioned to vocational training should they choose not to continue with primary school. We also offer seed capital to those willing to venture into small-scale business.” Wanderi noted.

The NALP which will consist of 70 percent girls and 30 percent boys will be domiciled in public primary schools under the direction of the Ministry of Education and the teachers will be identified under the guidance of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the schools Board of Management.

Additionally, the feeding program will be supported by the Samburu county government and the MOE school feeding program.

The Nabulaa Accelerator Learning Program was validated by the Samburu educational stakeholders Technical Working Group (TWG) before the projected rollout.