New accelerated learning initiative targets 500 out-of-school children annually, addressing deep-rooted socio-cultural and systemic barriers to education
Samburu County has unveiled a pioneering education initiative aimed at tackling the alarmingly high number of out-of-school children in the region.
The program, dubbed the Nabulaa Accelerator Learning Program (NALP), was officially launched by the Samburu Girls Foundation (SGF) with the ambitious goal of achieving 100 percent enrollment, retention, and seamless transition to secondary education for school-aged children in the county.
The initiative is set to operate in six wards across Samburu County and will target at least 500 out-of-school children aged between 10 and 14 years annually.
At the core of the program is a specially designed accelerated learning curriculum that condenses foundational early learning—typically spanning six years—into a four-year intensive academic program.
This allows older children, who missed the traditional entry age for primary school, to catch up with their peers and re-enter the formal education system without stigma or age-related barriers.
According to Mercy Wanderi, Programs Officer at the Samburu Girls Foundation, Samburu presents a unique and urgent case for intervention due to deeply entrenched social and cultural barriers that have kept an estimated 40 percent of children aged 6 to 17 out of school.
Citing data from the 2022 Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS), Wanderi highlighted alarming statistics: 31.9 percent of girls are subjected to child marriage, 50 percent experience teenage pregnancy, and the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) prevalence remains distressingly high at 75.6 percent.
“These harmful cultural practices—combined with factors like poverty, insecurity, limited parental support, and climate change-induced displacement—continue to rob children, especially girls, of their right to education,” Wanderi stated.
She added that many boys are also kept out of school to fulfill herding responsibilities or are absorbed into harmful traditional roles under the guise of moranism (warriorhood).
Compounding the problem is the late school enrollment trend observed in the region, where many children begin their education at the ages of 10 to 12, often placed in Pre-Primary 1 (PP1) classes alongside children as young as three.
This mismatch in age and academic level discourages attendance and further marginalizes older learners.
To bridge this gap, NALP employs an innovative learning approach where children complete PP1, PP2, Grade 1, and Grade 2 within a single year. After this foundational year, they transition into mainstream schooling at age-appropriate grade levels.
The program, which has been in pilot phase for the past eight years, is built on the principles of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and has been developed in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE).
Beyond academic training, NALP is also designed to provide life skills and vocational alternatives.
Girls aged 15 and above who opt not to continue with formal education are offered vocational training and seed capital to launch small-scale businesses.
This approach acknowledges the socioeconomic realities faced by many families in Samburu and seeks to provide holistic, sustainable alternatives to early marriage or labor exploitation.
NALP will be implemented within public primary schools under the oversight of the Ministry of Education, with teaching personnel selected through the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and local School Boards of Management.
The program will maintain a 70:30 enrollment ratio favoring girls, in a deliberate effort to redress the gender imbalance in education access.
To address food insecurity—a key barrier to school attendance—the program will be supported by a school feeding scheme jointly funded by the Samburu County Government and the Ministry of Education.
The program’s rollout followed a rigorous validation process conducted by the Samburu Educational Stakeholders Technical Working Group (TWG), ensuring its alignment with national education policies and local needs.
As Samburu County takes bold steps to confront the structural challenges impeding education access, the Nabulaa Accelerator Learning Program stands out as a replicable model that blends cultural sensitivity, innovation, and policy alignment to bring lasting change to marginalized communities.
If successful, the program could serve as a blueprint for tackling educational inequality in other underserved regions across Kenya and beyond.
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