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European Journal of Education Studies ISSN: 2501 - 1111 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 3 │Issue 10 │2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1034597 PARTICIPATION OF KENYAN NOMADIC PASTORALISTS IN NON-FORMAL EDUCATION Margaret Ngugi Dr., Lecturer of Planning and Economics of Education, Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Management, Laikipia University, Kenya Abstract: The desire for any government that values the economic growth of its country is to provide education to its citizens. Kenya has made innumerable efforts towards this end since independence. However, several decades down the line, this is yet to be realised. The nomadic pastoralist community is one such a group that has remained out of school due to its palpetic lifestyle. Generally, formal education is appropriate for people leading a sedentary lifestyle, thereby making nomadic pastoralist community be persistently excluded from accessing formal education. Nevertheless, in efforts to promote access to education among communities that are mainly nomadic pastoralists, the Government of Kenya has established mobile schools in Turkana County. Several studies have been conducted on factors contributing to low participation of nomadic pastoralists in education, but very little research has been done on mobile schools. Using a mixed methods research design, various County Government documents and official documents found in schools were reviewed to obtain information concerning Mobile schools in the area of study. Purposive sampling was adopted for this study to identify schools and the population for study. Focused Group Discussions were also held for parents and the learners of the final grade in mobile schools. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics whereas thematic analysis approach was used for qualitative data. The findings were presented in verbatim and tables. This study found out that although mobile schools have promoted access to education among Turkana nomadic pastoralists, their level of participation in education is still significantly low. The study established that some of the conditions that enhance participation in education through mobile schools include: awareness and sensitization, community involvement and multi grade and multi shift approaches in education provision. Also importantly is adopting a multifaceted approach whereby there is both Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 486 Margaret Ngugi PARTICIPATION OF KENYAN NOMADIC PASTORALISTS IN NON-FORMAL EDUCATION provision of education, food and security. This study recommends further research to establish ways of sustaining mobile schools in provision in provision of education among the nomadic pastoralists. Keywords: nomadic pastoralists, non-formal education, mobile schools, alternative mode of education, participation 1. Introduction Globally, provision of education to all is the hallmark for development among developing countries. Therefore, many countries worldwide single out formal education as a means of economic development through development of human capital. The main threshold level necessary for everyone to share in this development is primary education. As a result, governments have put in place various approaches to respond to reducing any existing educational disparities. However, the responses to such initiatives vary from one group to another due to factors such as different historical experiences, traditional interests and attachments to clans or subgroups along with the wider communities in general (Sifuna, 2005). For nomadic pastoralists, inspite of their large global scale, their marginalisation from formal education persists and yet they belong to the low economic bracket (Carr Hill, Eshete, Sedel, & Souza, 2005). For a community that deploys mobility as a strategy for survival and welfare of their livestock, a kind of education promoting sedentary lifestyle contradicts their valued source of livelihood. This prompted the need to research on this marginalised nomadic pastoralist community. The global efforts to fight illiteracy by promoting Education For All among the marginalised groups cannot be underestimated. These efforts have been met with many challenges thereby paving way for alternative schools such as Non-Formal Education (NFE). NFE was widely acknowledged quite early (early 80s), at both national and international levels as an appropriate approach to improve participation of those left out, unreached and dropouts from the formal education system (UNESCO, 2010). Mobile schools, as an alternative mode of education provision to nomadic pastoralists is a form of NFE after the failure of educational access to this marginalised community through the formal system of education. This therefore necessitated the current study due to challenges of practical operations facing this service provision to these wandering pastoralists. Implementation of NFE in general terms has been met with numerous challenges. An evaluation of NFE in India and Bangladesh established the following challenges: attitude, perceptions and poor linkages with the formal education systems European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 10 │ 2017 487 Margaret Ngugi PARTICIPATION OF KENYAN NOMADIC PASTORALISTS IN NON-FORMAL EDUCATION thereby resulting to its being taken as a separate function for serving the out-of-school children. Moreover, the result of low investment level, low community involvement and quality related issues for instance training of instructors and number of hours of teaching have persistently constrained their implementation (Nath, Syvia, and Grimes, 1999). In Kenya, it is regarded as a second rate education, hence suggesting that its implementation may have experienced hindrances (Lanyasunya, 2012). Therefore, this created the need to investigate the conditions that support and promote participation of nomadic pastoralists in mobile schools. Studies elsewhere indicate that despite extensive experimentation with mobile schools in Africa as indicated in Tahir (1991), reaching the nomadic pastoralists through formal education has remained an uphill task. Studies in Africa indicate that since the first mobile schools were introduced in Nigeria, the model has remained almost nonexistent in over two decades. This has been attributed to difficulties in its implementation. In addition, Kratli (2001) cited examples in Algeria and Nigeria as instances to show that mobile schools have not performed as expected. Studies elsewhere indicate that it proved impossible to continue classes because the nomads dispersed during the wet season (Gore, Eissa, & Rahma, 1998). This made the government of Nigeria as Ezeomah (2006) points out to introduce a curriculum that had nomadic friendly subjects such as animal husbandry. Hence, establishment of mobile schools does not automatically enhance education access; hence its NFE nature may encourage their success. Consequently, determining the conditions under which NFE education is delivered may contribute to improvement on its success. The area of focus in this study was Turkana County which is part of the vast ASAL area covering 80% of Kenya. In Kenya, the ASALs occupy over 80 percent of the country and provide home for about 10 million people (Republic of Kenya, 2006). A total of 39 counties fall under ASALs including Turkana County which is located in the North Western region of the country. It is approximately 77,000 km2 in size and borders Uganda to the west, Sudan to the North West and Ethiopia to the North East. The main livelihood in the county is pastoralism. The area is prone to constant cattle rustling clashes between the Turkana and their neighbours in Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia. Coupled with recurring perennial droughts have forced Turkana County to rely almost entirely on relief food from the government and non-governmental organizations (NGO) (Republic of Kenya, n.d.). For viewing / downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/1126 European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 10 │ 2017 488