Bandits disrupt CBC exams and learning in Baringo 

As thousands of learners countrywide under the competency based curriculum (CBC) started their national examination on Monday, their counterparts in the conflict areas of Baringo County are out of school after a spate of bandit attacks and livestock theft that have displaced them from their homes.

The Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) timetable shows that grades Four and Five pupils are supposed to sit the examination from January 31 to February 4. That examination is expected to account for 20 percent of their final scores at the end of Grade Six.

Headteachers must upload the scores on the portal by February 21 and the cumulative total will be used to place Grade Six pupils in junior secondary in January 2023.

When the Ministry of Education rolled out the new education system in 2017, its main aim was to unleash the full potential of every learner.

But pupils in banditry-prone areas of Baringo South and Baringo North face many challenges, with education paralysed by perennial insecurity, forcing them out of school every time the criminals strike.

By Monday, the Nation observed, many schools in the affected areas had not started the exams as learners and their parents had fled their homes to safer villages.

The affected primary schools in Baringo South are Tuiyotich, Kapkechir, Korkoron, Koitilil, Lamaiywe, Arabal, Kasiela, Kapindasum, Chemorong’ion while in Baringo North are Chepkesin, Kamwetio, Kesumet and Chepkew, Kagir, Yatya, Tuluk, Kapturo, Kamwetio and Kesumet.

A herder was shot dead on Monday in the volatile Arabal, Baringo South by armed criminals suspected to be from neighbouring Tiaty sub-county

Tension was high in the area as the attack ignited animosity among the warring Pokot and Ilchamus communities.

Paralysed learning

Nanai Lekuroito, 22, and others were herding more than 40 calves along the Arabal River when they were ambushed, said Baringo South sub-county police Commander David Kiptoo. 

The incident prompted parents with children in Arabal, Kasiela, Chemorong’ion and Kapindasum primary schools to withdraw them until normality returns.

Arabal Primary headteacher Joel Kiptui raised concerns that the incessant attacks had paralysed learning in the region, with schools in the border areas forced to close when bandits invade.

“The attack on Monday happened when learners were in school and to worsen the situation, most of them live in Kasieala, five kilometers away, and they have to wade through bandit-invested bushes daily,” Mr Kiptui said. 

“Parents resorted to keeping their children at home until normality returns, a situation that has hampered the start of grades Four and Five national examinations.”

All his 80 pupils, he said, were out of school following the incident and he was not certain when they would come back.

Reports indicate that the school was also closed for three weeks in October last year after bandits struck and killed two people.

“We are still behind in the syllabus owing to the interruptions by the spate of attacks. Sadly, all our pupils are at home following the killing because they cannot walk long distances for fear of the armed criminals who are suspected to be roaming the villages freely,” he said.  

“The Knec exams for the CBC learners have not started yet and we do not know if they will report back before the deadline elapses,” he added.

Armed criminals

The bandits disguise themselves as herders, even grazing their animals in the school compounds and putting the lives of pupils and their teachers at risk.

In Lamaiywe in the same sub-county, illegal herders are wreaking havoc, killing, stealing and razing the houses of displaced villagers.

Displacements started in December last year after armed criminals attacked and drove away hundreds of animals towards the Ng’elecha hills on the border with Tiaty.

Hundreds of armed criminals ambushed herders in grazing fields and fired their guns in the air to scare them away before taking the animals from Lamaiywe and Korkoron villages.

Hundreds of locals fled to neighbouring Kabel and Mochongoi villages for safety. 

Despite peace meetings held by local leaders, clerics and administrators to quell the heightening tension and bring back calm, more attacks occurred.

In the latest incident on Saturday, two people, Patrick Kimaiyo and James Ng’etich, suffered gunshot wounds in an attack by criminals roaming in the villages. The two were recuperating at Baringo County Referral Hospital in Kabarnet.

The situation was the same at Kagir Primary School in Baringo North where more than 20 learners were out of school after they and their parents moved out of the volatile area last month following raids in which two people, including a security officer, were killed.

Headteacher Thomas Kibet said exams were yet to be administered as some pupils were still missing from school.

Rampant attacks

“We only have five of the 12 pupils in Grade Four and 10 pupils are also missing in Grade Five. More than 18 Standard Eight candidates cannot be traced either,” Mr Kibet said.

He added: “Once we get them, we will start the examination but our worry is how we will trace all of them. The rampant attacks have largely affected the implementation of CBC in this region, with most grades still lagging behind in the syllabus owing to the regular interruption.”

Parents faulted the government, saying security forces were lenient on the criminals.

“How does the government expect the learners to compete with others countrywide when they are out of school every time?” said Mr Richard Chepchomei, a parent from Chemoe in Baringo North.

“It seems we are being treated as lesser Kenyans because as we speak thousands of the pupils will miss the exams because they are still in the bushes after being displaced by the flare-ups.”

John Wendot, an elder in Kasiela, accused herders of using pasture and water as an excuse to expand their territories and force other communities out of their land.

He said hundreds of herders had invaded Ramacha, Karma, Losokoni, Kesengwai, Kapyomot, Ng’elecha, Loromoru, Lokiwach, Embosos, Katilomwo and Ng’elecha after locals fled from incessant attacks and livestock theft.

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