LAIKIPIA JANUARY 27, 2017(CISA) – Over 100 pupils are skipping school at Narok Primary school in Laikipia County due to famine that has hit the region.
“113 pupils have not reported back since the school opened. They are probably in the bush looking after the cows and for food to eat,” Mr Andrew Maina, head teacher Narok Primary School told CISA.
“We used to have feeding programs that were initiated by the Ministry of Education but since August 2016 we have not received food from the government. We are forced to release the pupils early,” said Mr Maina.
He called on the government to ensure supply of clean water to the school, “for the sake of the suffering pupils.”
“It is difficult even to get drinking water here. The Catholic priest at the adjacent Mary Mother of Grace Secondary school has been providing us with clean water but their borehole has dried up,” said Maina.
Speaking in Maralal, Samburu County on January 23 President Uhuru Kenyatta, ordered the resumption of school feeding programmes in drought-stricken areas in the country.
Narok Primary School in Laikipia North Constituency, Laikipia County was started in 1956 by the government in order to attend to help the nomadic communities go to school.
However in 2013 the school closed down due to clashes but was reopened in 2014 with the first batch of students sitting for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams in 2016.
