ROLE OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION IN ENHANCING NOMADIC PASTORALISTS’ CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO EDUCATION IN KIRISIA DIVISION, SAMBURU COUNTY, KENYA (Review Completed - Accepted)
Education is a fundamental right of every person, a key to other human rights. Article 28 (1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), 1989, declares that all children have a right to education. The right to education requires that young people be given the opportunity necessary for the acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will enable them lead happy and productive lives as individuals and discharge their social duties for the betterment of life in the society. The shortcomings in the provision of education via formal education, calls for non-formal education as a complementary approach to enable the adult and out-of-school youth who are unable to access education in the formal way to access education. This study set out to investigate the role of non-formal education (NFE) in enhancing nomadic pastoralists’ children’s access to education in Kirisia division, Samburu County. Two research questions were formulated to guide the study. Research Question One aimed at establishing the trend of enrollment of pupils in the NFE programmes while research question two sought to determine the extent to which NFE programmes have enabled pastoralists’ children join the formal education. The study applied a descriptive survey design. Data were collected by use of questionnaires and interview schedules. The findings revealed that, NFE had increased nomadic pastoralists’ children’s participation in education. The NFE programmes had also enabled the pupils join the formal education sector. The study recommended that the government, the NGOs and other support groups should step up their support for the NFE programmes by for example supporting the teachers who are key facilitators of the programmes
Keywords: Alternative education, Formal education, Nomadic pastoralists, Non-formal education, Out-of-school children, Reflect circle members