Improving the quality of education

The project aimed to increase school attendance and the quality of education provided in seven rural schools in the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) community conservancies. Over the past four years, rural schooling in the project area experienced a number of changes. More specifically, the Covid. -19 pandemic caused schools to close for a whole year, and the Kenyan school curriculum was changed. A severe drought led to almost no rainfall in the project region, which in turn led to migration and conflicts between communities over grazing areas and water. Despite these challenges, at the end of the project 79 teachers were active and 2.262 children attended classes. All teachers in all seven schools participated in activities of capacity building in didactic and pedagogic skills. 962 parents were involved in workshops raising awareness on the importance of schooling supporting their children. The changes in the education curriculum decided by the Ministry of Education was an additional challenge, but ultimately new didactic materials were provided for all seven participating schools. Four schools were supplied with new and/or renovated school furniture. At one school 4 additional classrooms were constructed and at another school a gender separated ablution blocks, was completed. A positive unplanned outcome of the project was Northern Rangelands Trust recognizing the significance of education in driving regional development. Through concerted efforts and substantial investments in personnel, NRT has positioned itself as a pivotal player in the education landscape, drawing the attention of potential donors. This has triggered a paradigm shift, ensuring that the pursuit of quality education remains integral to the region's development trajectory even beyond this project.

ICEP (Institut zur Cooperation bei Entwicklungs-Projekten) is an Austrian NGO founded in 1998 that contributes to efforts to alleviate poverty in developing countries. In so doing, it seeks to develop local capacities, together with local partners, to ensure that people can live from their own work and that improvements are self-sustaining. For this project, ICEP will work with the local organisation the Northern Rangelands Trust.