Over 3.5M Kenyan children to miss school in January over drought

NAIROBI, Kenya

Due to an ongoing drought, over 3.5 million Kenyan children will not be able to enroll in schools when classes resume in January 2023, according to Save the Children on Tuesday.

A survey conducted by Save the Children, an international humanitarian aid group, warned that as drought worsens, more and more school-age children are being forced out of school by a drought that Kenya says is the worst it has witnessed in 40 years.

Yvonne Arunga, the country director for Save the Children Kenya and Madagascar, said on Tuesday that “children are the most vulnerable groups and are usually the most affected in such emergencies. Parents have to migrate with their children in search of food, pasture and water for their livestock. This compromises their access to basic facilities such as food, clean water, healthcare, and education.”

The aid group noted that the situation deteriorated as those affected by the drought are nomadic pastoralists who have lost thousands of livestock due to a lack of pasture.

“We are calling on the government to make every effort to ensure maximized and efficient running of school feeding programs during drought situations, especially in the areas worst affected by drought. Most of these children depend on these meals,” Arunga added.

Save the Children is also urging the government to make sure that schools have an adequate supply of safe water for drinking, sanitation, and personal hygiene during the drought to improve the school environment and encourage students to stay in school.

The 2022 Long Rains Assessment, October to December projection period report for Arid and Semi-Arid Land region, indicates that 4.35 million people in Kenya are facing high levels of acute food insecurity.

According to the state-owned National Disaster Management Authority's report, as the hunger crisis gets worse and schools reopen for the first term in 2023, an additional 1.6 million children face a high risk of quitting school.