Maasai told to discard cultures that lock children out of classroom

By Charles Ngeno

Narok, Kenya: Maasai community has been asked to discard retrogressive practices blamed for hindering their children’s education.

Narok County Teachers Service Commission Director Enow Alio Gulia appealed to the pastoralist community to take advantage of the free primary and secondary education and educate their children.

“When we educate our children, we will help enlighten the future generation and create enough human resource in our county which will raise the standards of living,” said Gulia.

The director, who made the remarks in his office in Narok town, asked all education stakeholders to join hands to improve on the performance in the national exams.

Transition rate

“Last year (2012), our county made slight improvement in the national exams and we aim at producing better results in future. We want to ensure more children transit to universities and other tertiary institutions,” he said.

Gulia appealed to Non-Government Organisations to help in addressing challenges facing education in the area like early marriages, Female Genital Mutilation and Poor infrastructure.

“Some institutions have been helping in the purchase of learning materials in schools and paying fees for needy students. We urge others to help give children quality basic education.”

He asked teachers to conduct themselves responsibly and help children to develop positive attitude towards education.