Running an Education Program in Kenya    

Joyce Akai Emanikor is currently the Education Programme Officer in the three Turkana districts for the only education programme that Oxfam GB runs in Kenya. 

Says Joyce:
"In Oxfam GB, I spearheaded the formation of Turkana Education For All (TEFA), a consortium of all education actors in the greater Turkana, whose function is to mobilize resources, promote and coordinate provision of quality education to the people in the Turkana region. In addition, I have promoted campaigns among pastoralists to take their girls to school. This has been concretised by my efforts to establish and strengthen over 30 mobile schools in Turkana with a population of close to 4500 children, with about 60% being girls.

"Due to many years of marginalisation and isolation from mainstream development, education in Turkana, like other pastoralist areas in Kenya, is still lagging behind the rest of the country. Despite efforts by the government to make education accessible, large numbers of children are not enrolled in school. Even when they are enrolled, many of them learn in deplorable conditions, either because of lack of or shortage of physical infrastructure (classrooms, dormitories, toilets), or the dilapidated nature of existing buildings.

"As one of the poorest districts in Kenya where 94.4% of the population lives below the poverty line, many children do not have an opportunity to go to school. The introduction of free primary education by the government of Kenya in 2003 saw a remarkable increase in the number of children enrolled in school, especially in trading and urban centres along the main roads in Turkana, overstretching the existing facilities. Enrollment jumped from 27% in 2003 to 43% in 2007 and to close to 50% in 2009. 

"Whereas the government is applauded with the introduction of free primary education, the existing physical facilities such as classes, sanitation, libraries and dormitories are not sufficient enough to cater to the surging number of pupils gradually enrolling in schools to take advantage of free primary education. The cost of education has been extended to impoverished parents, while inadequate facilities have led to congestion in few developed schools around the urban settlements, compromising the quality of education.

"The Education Programme in Turkana addresses the acute shortage of physical infrastructure in primary schools, high dropout rates, low enrollment, deterioration of existing infrastructure, and low participation of parents in the running of schools. Apart from formal basic education, we also support informal mobile education, Alternative Basic Education for Turkana (ABET), as a means of giving an opportunity to nomadic children, who cannot attend formal schools, to access basic education."

Joyce received her Master’s degree from the University of Manchester in 2005.