The ghost schools of Lamu abandoned over terrorism

Half the school children from the Boni minority community in Lamu are yet to report back to school due to insecurity.

At the Mokowe Arid Zone Boarding Primary School, which hosts 199 pupils, more than 70 children have not reported back to school, three weeks after learning institutions across the country opened for the third term.

Since 2014, the school has been admitting pupils from vulnerable communities in Lamu such as the Boni, Sanye, and Orma from villages in the expansive and dense Boni forest, after five schools in the area were closed down when teachers fled owing to frequent attacks in the area by the al-Shabaab terror group from Somalia.

The schools which were closed over terrorism are Milimani, Basuba, Mangai, Mararani and Kiangwe and they have not fully reopened.

Much of the Boni forest is under the multi-agency security Operation Amani Boni (OAB) and as a result, movement in some areas has been limited to only security agencies.

The objective of the operation launched in September 2015 is to flush out Al-Shabaab militants hiding inside the dense forest.

Transport impossible

The situation has made transport impossible, with learners from the Boni community struggling to move between the Mokowe Arid Zone School and their villages.

Despite efforts by the national government to intensify security and reopen the schools in January 2021, only Grade One to Grade Four learning is taking place in those schools, while all the upper class pupils attend the Mokowe Arid Zone Boarding Primary School in Lamu West.

The Daily Nation has, however, established that by Tuesday this week, more than 70 children supposed to be at school had not reported back to the institution, mainly due to travel challenges and the general insecurity caused by the al-Shabaab terrorists in the area.

The unpredictable state of security in Boni forest for the past eight years has always complicated travel arrangements, particularly for pupils of Mokowe Arid Zone Primary.

Initially, every time a new term began, the national government would provide a police or military chopper to airlift the pupils from remote villages to the school. It would also ferry teachers to the Boni forest schools to teach the lower primary classes.

Lately however, that has not been the case, with poor parents in Boni Forest left to their own devices as concerns how their children get to school.

Mokowe Arid Zone’s headteacher, Mr Charles Mzee, confirmed that the more than 70 pupils that have not reported back to the school are mostly in class five to eight.

A few of the Grade Three and Four learners from Boni forest who are pupils at Mokowe Arid Zone are also yet to report to school.

Transport challenges and insecurity were the key hindrances to the pupils’ reporting back to the school, said Mr Mzee.

Pupils still at home

“Every term, we handle about 200 pupils from the Boni Forest area here. This term, about half of the pupils have reported back, while the rest are still at home. The main issue here is insecurity and transport challenges. We hope that will be looked into so that my pupils can be ferried back to the school to continue with learning like their counterparts in other parts of the country,” said Mr Mzee.

The headteacher also thanked the county government for ensuring the needs of the pupils at the school, including food, are met.

“We depend on well-wishers, especially on matters of food, to sustain our pupils in the boarding section here. I am happy that the county government has provided the required support, including funds to cater to pupils’ needs here. My concern is for the pupils that haven’t reported back. I hope the parents will be assisted so that their children can be ferried to school this week,” said Mr Mzee.

Mr Salim Abdi, a father of six in Basuba admitted that the means of transport and insecurity within Boni forest was the reason for their children’s delay in reporting back to school.

Mr Abdi, who is jobless, said his two children, both in the upper classes at Mokowe Arid Zone Primary, are languishing at home since he has no money to pay a boda boda to take them to Mokowe.

Bus fare

He urged the national and county governments, and well-wishers to come to the aid of parents who are not able to pay the fare back to school for their children.

“My children are at home, sometimes helping me with household chores and even joining me in hunting for wild animals to sustain us. I don’t have the money to ferry them back to Mokowe Arid Zone. The national government has over the years taken charge of the transport, including airlifting our children via police and military choppers back to Mokowe Arid Zone. I pray that such an arrangement continues,” said Mr Abdi.

Mr Abdallah Ali of Mangai complained that the government had left them on their own, with no communication on the education of their children.

“It's three weeks already and our children aren’t in school, yet the government knows we can’t do it on our own,” said Mr Ali.

Mr Mohamed Guyo, a resident of Mararani, said some parents spend between Sh2,000 and Sh3,000 ferrying their children to the Mokowe school on boda boda every time a term begins.

“That has, however, proved impossible for most of us who are unemployed. The unpredictable security situation on our roads is also a headache. That’s why we’re staying with our children who are supposed to be in school. We need assistance,” said Mr Guyo.

Ms Khadija Adnan expressed concern that the lack of consistency in learning among the Boni children has led to early marriages and unwanted pregnancies among school girls in the community.

Common learning centre

She proposed the establishment of a common learning centre in Boni forest to ensure girls, who mostly end up being married to older men, go to school.

“I believe with such an education centre in place, the increased pregnancies and early marriages among our girls will greatly reduce,” she said.

Lamu County Director of Education Joshua Kaaga admitted that a number of pupils from Boni forest villages had not reported back to school, however, he said arrangements were in place for the pupils to be ferried back to the institution before the end of the week.

“The duty to transport pupils to school has been left to the parents. Due to the challenges and the poverty level of most parents in the area, we had a meeting with area leaders last week to oversee how those pupils can be brought back immediately. Everything is now intact. We expect all the remaining learners to be at school this week,” said Mr Kaaga.

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