Pastoral counties urged to take education courses

Deputy President William Ruto has challenged leaders from pastoralist counties to encourage their children to take up teaching courses.

Speaking in Garissa during the Pastoralist Leadership Summit, Ruto said the current problem bedeviling the counties could only be solved if the residents take up teaching courses.

Ruto said he had directed the Ministry of Education to pride affirmative action every year by giving out 300 places for persons from pastoral communities to be trained in teaching courses.

He, however, expressed regret that some of the opportunities have not been taken.

“Let us call a spade a spade and not a big spoon. We are the only ones who can arrest this problem. We should not be depending on others to come and sort our problems,” the DP said.

He added, “Let us lead from the front by ensuring that we have our children join teaching colleges so we can once and for all end this teachers crisis.”

Northern Kenya counties have, since 2016, suffered acute teacher shortage after hundreds of teachers, majority of them non-local, fled citing security concerns.

Ruto said the re-positioning of arid and semi arid lands and pastoral communities has unlocked tremendous potential of the regions

“if you judge ASAL according to its potential to produce the staple yields of other regions, you will make the tragic mistake of seeing it as a low-potential, highly problematic region. We are not making that mistake. ASAL and pastoral communities are too important to be profiled casually and lazily,” Ruto said.

The DP said 80 per cent of Kenya is ASAL, adding that it is suicidal to neglect pastoralists and its developmental promise.

Speaking at the same summit, National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale said pastoralists are more united than ever and would going forward speak with one voice.

The summit is expected to boost Garissa county economically.