Agony of more than 3,000 learners idling in IDP camps in Tana River

Mohamed Osman, a 10-year-old, wades through the murky waters of the River Tana flash floods at the Garissa Farmers Training Centre, assisting his two younger sisters who were trapping fish with a mosquito net.

He is among, over 3,000 children from Tana River County who continue to miss classes since schools reopened three weeks ago.

His family was displaced after the river Tana overflowed and submerged their residential home.

“We fled to the Garissa Farmers Training Centre where we pitched a tent to accommodate us, our school is still submerged, and our family have nothing to feed on today, we are here to fish and help mum, prepare us lunch,” he narrated.

The grade four pupil of Hatata Primary School in Mororo said he had missed returning to school due to the flood disaster.

His two sisters, Fatuma Osman, 11, and Maimuna Osman, 13, attended the same school before being displaced by the surging floods.

At the Farmer's Training Centre, hundreds of school-aged children were loitering in the camp, where they had yet to have the opportunity to learn.

More than 2,000 children were idling at the neighbouring Garissa Police Training College, where over 1,800 families from Tana River County were camping after being displaced by the floods. Some were helping parents fetch water, others were busy playing, and some were seen pensively sitting with their family members inside makeshift shelters at the overcrowded campsite.

Ronald Stephen Khisa, a parent, gathered a few youngsters with no books under an Acacia tree in the camp, where many other activities were also taking place, and sang the traditional ABC song to help the learners memorise the basic alphabets.

More than 2,000 children were idling at the neighbouring Garissa Police Training College, where over 1,800 families from Tana River County were camping after being displaced by the floods. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

“I am busy during the weekdays, it's only on the weekend that I help these young children who are loitering in the camp at least learn the basics alphabets and numerical numbers,” he said.

Khisa stated that he targeted the few pupils in the early childhood centres while thousands in the senior grades were left idling without help.

Denied opportunities

He said the Garissa primary township schools denied their children class opportunities after school heads ordered them to come with transfer letters from the schools affected by the floods.

Abdirahman Mohamed a boda boda rider, said he also volunteered to help the young learners during his free time.

Mwanajuma Hamaro, the Garissa police training camp leader, lamented the plight of the young learners who were missing classes while their peers had access to education.

Mwanajuma Hamaro, the Garissa Police Training IDP camp chairlady. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

“It's now going to the third week, they have missed classes since President William Ruto announced the reopening of schools,” Mwanajuma said.

She said senior state officials from Garissa County came to the camp and urged them to take their children to the neighbouring public schools in Garissa town until the river floods subsided.

Mwanajuma claims that efforts to seek admission to schools in Garissa town were deemed futile after the school heads demanded transfer letters.

She urged Garissa's education officials to intervene and assist the school heads in waiving the requirement imposed.

Nurdin Saney, a parent at the camp and human rights activist urged the school heads to reconsider their demands.

“We are human beings, they need to be sympathetic to our current situation,” he claimed.

Donations

Nurdin stated that parents were straining to feed their children through donations and revenue from manual labour in Garissa, and were concerned about their children's lack of educational prospects.

A spot check by The Eastleigh Voice, reveals one of the schools, Hatata Primary Schools was still submerged and inaccessible.

The entire school compound including the playground and the classroom was flooded. Some school-going children whose parents were camping along the Garissa-Nairobi highway were swimming at the school entrance.

Mohamed Osman and his two sisters fishing at the flooded Garissa Farmers Training Center during a school day. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

The situation was no different from the different camps.

Suleiman Abadella, a parent whose family was camping in Mororo town, on the Garissa-Nairobi highway said they were struggling to look for a primary school where their children would access learning.

“We have not joined any IDP camp, we are just camping on the main road, waiting for the floods to subside,” he said.

A school headteacher who spoke on conditions of anonymity said the Garissa town schools were already grappling with high enrollment and were understaffed.

“The teacher-child ratio in our classrooms is 1-60, the displaced population from the neighbouring Tana River County is big, no school can accommodate them,” he said.

Abdihamid Maalim Ali, the Garissa County director of education said the local school head teachers were wrong to ask for transfer letters because the schools were already underwater and the afflicted children required temporary support till the floodwaters subsided.

"We already informed the local heads to allow the children displaced by the floods and were in IDP camps until the crisis was over, I will make a follow-up to ensure they were not denied an opportunity to access learning," he said.

He stated that they instructed all school administrators to unconditionally allow them to attend lessons.

According to the Kenya Red Cross, Tana River County has the largest number of camps for displaced people totalling 88, while the total number of people displaced by the river Tana in the county is 61,470.