KNUT Secretary-General, Abdirizak Ismail speaking to the press on Tuesday in Garissa. [Photo/citizentv.co.ke]
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Garissa branch has said that many students in the region as sent home by schools for lacking money to pay for food even though the government has taken care of their tuition fee.
According to the region’s Secretary General, Abdirizak Ismail, drought experienced in the region has been one of the major obstacles for parents trying to raise school fee and other fees.
The government committed to its pledge to ensure that every child gets an education by introducing Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) program. Whereas parents were required to only buy school uniform and lunch for their children.
In Garissa County, it has been a cumbersome laden considering the drought consuming the region right now where, according to the area’s KNUT Secretary-General, Abdirizak Ismail, parents can hardly buy their own meal to eat much less be for their entire families.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Ismail pointed to drought raving the regions as the biggest challenge for residents presently.
“People in Garissa are pastoralists and their lives are depended on livestock but because of the dry weather condition in our area residents are compelled to sell their animals at a throwaway price thus they cannot have enough money to buy lunch for their schooling children,” said Ismail.
According to Ismail, camel prices have significantly dropped, “a camel that normally goes for Sh 130,000 is now selling for a paltry 20,000, while the price of a cow has dropped from Sh 70,000 to 15,000.”
In the new free secondary education program, the government committed to pay Sh 22,244 per student per year, both in boarding and day schools.
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