Prior to the current COVID- 19 pandemic,
Sub – Saharan Africa was reported as the region with the highest out-of-school
rates for all age groups. According to UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Fact
Sheet No. 48[1]
of the 63 million out-of-school children of primary school age, 34 million, live
in Sub-Saharan Africa. The region also accounts for the 27 million out of
school adolescents. It is trite that due to poverty levels, cultural and social
beliefs, more girls are likely to be excluded from education than boys. For every 100 boys of secondary school age
out of school there are 123 girls denied the right to education in the said
region[2].
Three years ago, Akili Dada started
programming for girls in Turkana County of Kenya. Turkana is the poorest region
in the country and has a population of 926,976.[3]
It has also been home to the Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Integrated
Settlement hosting over 58,000 refugees. Through our Young Changemakers
program, Akili Dada has been providing scholarships to adolescent girls in the
region as well as hosting residential leadership academies for over 300 girls
as well as teacher and parent engagements. Akili Dada’s partner school in the
region, also doubles up as a shelter for its student population. Predominantly
a boarding high school, the school is also a source of refuge for students who
cannot go home during the holidays due to violent seasonal rivers ,bandits, tribal
clashes, harmful cultural practices such as beading which is often a precursor
to early and forced marriage as well as severe famine and extensive drought.
With the Government Directive to
unilaterally shut down all institutions of learning across the country as a
way to curb the spread of the Corona virus, we are deeply concerned about the
social, physical and psychological cost of these decision especially as relates
to underserved girls such as those we
program for in Turkana. We do know that the number of adolescent girls who will
remain out of school after this pandemic will greatly surpass the over 132
million girls globally who were already out of school. At the date of writing
this article[4],
there has been no reported COVID-19 case in Turkana County. While we applaud
the Government’s efforts to address the pandemic and reduce further infections,
we call for a more pragmatic response for adolescent girls and other vulnerable
groups of people. Indefinitely closing schools that also act as shelters is a
counter productive measure that may see very few girls return back to school.
Even if they do return, we will be plagued with a further alarmingly high national
teenage pregnancy rate as well as an upsurge in harmful cultural practices. The
e-learning and radio programming as a stop gap measure to mitigate the massive
disruption to education access is also a far to reach option for most
households in Turkana. There will be a real risk of
regression of studies in the region for both girls and boys.
Continuing education through
the primary pathway of an in school set up must be considered an option and a
priority in this region. Keeping students in school in this region will mean
that they are safe from cross fires and bandit attacks. Keeping students in
school in Turkana will also mean that they are afforded at least three meals a
day. Keeping girls in school will also ensure they are safe from being beaded,
from getting pregnant and with access to sanitary towels. Keeping girls in
school will also mean that they are guaranteed a right to gain an education
despite being living in a pandemic!
First Published on 1st May on Akili Dada's webite
[1]
http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/fs48-one-five-children-adolescents-youth-out-school-2018-en.pdf
[2] UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and
Global Education Monitoring Report (GEMR) (2016). “Leaving No One Behind: How
Far on the Way to Universal Primary and Secondary Education?” GEMR policy paper
27/UIS fact sheet No. 37. Montreal and Paris: UIS and GEMR.
[4] 11th
May 2020
