Students have dropped out of school ahead of this year’s national examinations due to drought. [Photo: the-star.co.ke]

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Hundreds of students in Garissa County have stopped going to school due to lack of food and water following the persistent dry spell in the county.

Many schools are grappling with low turnouts ahead of this year’s national examinations as many parents have moved with their children to other areas in search of water and pasture for their livestock.

National Drought Management Authority coordinator for Garissa County, Mr Abdinoor Dubow said that the school going children have dropped out of school to help their parents in search of the precious commodity.

Mr Dubow said the most affected areas are Fafi, Lagdera and Balambala Sub Counties.

“The drought has affected learning but the national government with support from county and international partners is closely monitoring the situation and we are doing everything possible to mitigate the ongoing drought including water tracking which we have been doing since 2016,” said Mr Dubow.

According to Citizen Digital, Dihle Nur Primary School’s headteacher, Abdikadir Jirma said that as it stands, eight out of 15 Kenya Certificate of Primary School (KCPE) candidates are either studying on their own or have dropped out of school completely as the number of enrolled pupils has reduced from 230 in October 2016 to 124 in October 2017.

“The situation is not good as most students have been forced to migrate with their parents in search of water and pasture. Currently, 8 out of 15 KCPE students are not in session, the school is being forced to solicit for water from parents in order to cook food for the remaining children,” Mr Jirma said as quoted by Citizen Digital.