Educational participation of mobile pastoralists is and remains a complex issue worldwide and is controversially discussed by pastoralists, local government officials and members of various international cooperation agencies. The mobile lifestyle of mobile pastoralists and the conventional, sedentary system of formal education pose major challenges.
In conversations and interviews with the Daasanach pastoralists, Father Florian and the local INES team have realized that Daasanach parents want mobile schools that migrate with them.
The INES project team has therefore set itself the task of setting up a mobile school system together with the mobile pastoralists, which will give mobile Daasanach children in Northern Kenya access to basic education. The already existing mobile schools use the flexible and highly individualised system Ladders of Learning, which enables pastoralists with practical teacher training to lead the schools themselves, offer activity-based teaching in the shade of a tree and accompany children in their individual learning process.
In addition to the Ladders of Learning for reading, writing and arithmetic further learning modules of the Kenyan curriculum such as hygiene, nutrition, peacekeeping, money management etc. will be offered in the mobile schools. Learners will also acquire basic knowledge of Kiswahili and English in order to break down barriers to other language groups, secure peace and counteract social disadvantage.
Besides the development of the mobile school system with its own learning material, a teacher training centre in Illeret is being set up in which Daasanach can train as a mobile teacher.