Pastoralist Education
An estimated 25 to 40 million children of school age live in nomadic or pastoralist households in Africa
alone, of whom only 10 to 50 percent attend school. The overall rate of female enrollment in school is
extremely low or nonexistent in most pastoralist regions. Most basic education systems available to
pastoralists are characterized by limited access, poor delivery, gender inequality, low retention, and poor
infrastructure. Further, there are huge disparities between regions, countries and communities due to cultural
and traditional beliefs and a lack of basic access to parents, which in turn affects child enrollment.
For IIRR, education is not only one of the most important basic human rights but it is also the foundation for
human development. It is a powerful tool that releases the intellectual, social and organizational potential of
individuals, communities and nations.
The Project
In 2005 IIRR started education for pastoralists and
other marginalized groups in Kenya and Ethiopia. The
program contributes to the efforts of the government
and local communities to increase the opportunity for
out-of-school children in pastoralist areas to access
quality basic education by designing appropriate
delivery mechanisms that are compatible with the
pastoralist lifestyle, with particular emphasis on girls’
enrollment and retention.
The Approach
IIRR does not implement projects or programs directly with beneficiary communities. It works with and
builds the capacity of local organizations—NGOs, local government, community organizations and parents
associations—to design, implement and monitor effective delivery of education.
Evolving education delivery models
Sustainable education for pastoralists must support their livelihoods and be attractive to their way of life.
IIRR and partners developed a flexible education curriculum that fits with pastoral mobility patterns and
allows their children to help with daily chores. The evolving delivery models include:
Mobile schools: With these simple semi-permanent structures, students and their teachers travel when
communities migrate in search of greener pastures and water. Learning often takes place in tents or under
the shade of trees.
Shepherd classes: These are evening classes designed for children who are busy herding livestock or
doing other chores during the day.
Feeder schools: Pastoralist settlements are normally far apart and some children must walk long distances
to school. Feeder classes are set up within settlements for younger children to reduce the distance until they
are old enough to walk and join a more organized learning center.
Functional Literacy: The majority of adult pastoralists have not had any schooling. The IIRR adult literacy
classes offer basic education combined with practical problem-solving and life skills.
Integration: Partnerships are formed with other agencies that provide additional social services. The
project integrates HIV/AIDS, gender empowerment and peace building as critical components, especially for
girls and women.
Progress to date
Through the 19 partners in Kenya and Ethiopia, IIRR has
established 54 learning centers for school age children,
28 functional adult literacy classes and 17 early child
development (ECD) centers. They have 2,018 school-age
children and 456 younger children in ECD classes. The
parents support the education programs by getting
involved in one of the 54 center management
committees (CMC), which supervise training at the
centers. Through the capacity-building trainings, the
partner organizations can now design, implement, and
monitor the learning as well as document and share their
lessons. Targeted lobbying is bearing fruit as
governments are influenced to design focused pastoralist
-friendly education policies.
The Future
The focus is to increase access to quality learning to a wider pastoralist community and enroll over 10,000
children and adult learners in the next three years. To do this, the program needs to reach out to even more
partners in order to establish more learning centers. In specific terms, this means expanding to more
districts in the predominantly pastoralist and marginalized communities in Kenya and Ethiopia and, later,
to pastoralists in Northern Uganda and South Sudan. More teachers need to be trained and hired, and the
skills of serving teachers need to be upgraded through in-service trainings. Better and more learner-
friendly teaching and learning materials need to be purchased. The learning centers need additional
classrooms, toilets and water to increase attendance and retention rates. The managerial skills of the CMC
need to be upgraded and the capacity of NGOs and local government educational authorities must be
enhanced to plan and monitor the quality of learning. To undertake these expanded activities and reach our
goal, the current annual funding of US $450,000 must increase to US $1 million.
Pastoralist Education
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