CULTURAL DIVIDE

A CLASH OF TRADITION AND MODERNISM IN THE QUEST FOR

EDUCATION FOR PASTORALIST COMMUNITIES IN KENYA

BY

LYDIA
 INTRODUCTION

 The provision of quality education in Africa, like in the other parts of the world, is marred by a
myriad of factors. While massive strides have been made to increase the literacy rates across
the continent, much still needs to be done. The overriding impediment to literacy effort is the
relative newness of the concept of formal education.
 The formal education is the recent addition to the repertoire. Most structures put in place are a
continuation of the systems set up by the former colonialists. However, this does not imply that
there was no education in the pre-colonial times.
 For majority of the Africans, their education in the pre-colonial periods mainly entailed being
verse with the ways of the community as per the assigned roles according to gender.
 Girls were taught how to cook, thatch houses(in the case of Maasai) and how to take care of
the household. Boys were taught how to herd cattle, hunt and make war. The strict gender
separation continues to influence the attitudes of today and this is the major beginning point
in understanding the problems that face literary efforts in Africa.
History of the literary levels Gaps of pastoralist communities

 Kenya is a former British colony and it traces its origin of the current
education system to the early missionary efforts that were later cemented by
the colonial government. Even in the early days, education was skewed to the
boys. Boys were seen as being intelligent and more capable than girls.
 The patriarchal system among several pastoralist communities viewed girls
by their potential worth in bringing bride price. Since girls were to be married
off, the overarching view was to spend as few resources on them as possible.
 Boys were the superior gender since they ensured the continuity of the
community. While these attitude are not prevalent in the current among
several tribes, they still hold a lot of weight in many pastoralists communities
in Kenya. It also sterns from the colonial times and the prejudices which
defined that period.
• The nomadic lifestyle of the pastoralist meant that they could not
be corralled into the labor reserves. They were marginalized and
left on their own since the British saw no benefit in providing
education to them.
• After independence, the Kenyan government continued with the
trend of marginalizing the pastoralists communities. As a result
there has been a huge gap in the literary levels of pastoralist
communities.
• In recent years, there has been efforts by the government in
directing education programs to these communities but the work
and effort required is overwhelming. Due to the cultural biases, a
majority of those who have benefitted are boys. Education of girl
child is low in Kenya, the girl child faces a high amount of social
problems as compared to boys.
• The Kenyan government still needs to put a significant amount of
measures to ensure that the girl child is protected. There is need
for the establishment of more legislation to help fight the hostile
cultural practices faced by girls in these pastoralist communities.
 Problems Impeding the provision of
education FOR Girls

 In this research we will look at the problems hindering the provision of education in the nomadic
tribes. Most of the factors that hamper the provision of education for girls in these communities are
rooted in traditions. I refrain from referring to these traditions as ‘outdated’ though this is how they
are often referred to. 
 Understanding where these norms come from is important in deciphering them. Belittling them does
nothing for the argument. Time is relative. What may be outdated to one demographic may be in
fashion for another. It is all in where you are standing. Out of date, they may not be, but some of
these traditions are, without a doubt, harmful and detrimental. They impact the education of the girl
child negatively.
 The major factors that have been taken into account in this research include;
 Teen pregnancies
 Female Genital Mutilation(FGM)
 The migratory pattern of pastoralist communities
 Early marriages
• The research will look at how these factors come into play among the major

pastoralist communities in Kenya comprising the Maasai, Iteso, Pokot,Turkana,

Samburu, and Njemps. The groups are similar in a lot of ways. To begin with, they all

speak a variety of Maa languages. They also practice a pastoralist lifestyle, moving

around with their herds in search of pasture and water.

• Additionally, they have a strictly patriarchal society where the men make all decisions.

Due to their close association, their traditions and attitudes towards the girl child are

strikingly similar.

• Therefore most of the problems that the girl child faces in these communities are

similar across all these pastoralist communities. It is therefore essay to study them and

get the full details of the various challenges that girls face in their education in these
• The problems hindering girl child education in these pastoralist communities originate from home.

Girls are told that they are inferior and can never equal boys. The concept of the

weaker sex is very prevalent among these tribes.

• This sort of thinking makes girls feel inferior since they are children, and they

thus resign to their fate. Even in situations where they feel like they can perform

better, they do not dare because this will make them stand out and be a target

for ridicule.

• It is therefore a great challenge in dealing with girls with these type of thinking. They do not feel of

being of great important to the community. They only have in their mind that they are lesser and have no

ability to compete with the boy child for education opportunities.

 Teen pregnancies impacts

 Teen Pregnancies are pregnancies occurring in young girls aged between 13 and
19.Teen pregnancies in these pastoralist communities in Kenya is a persistent issues
due to several factors ranging from their cultural practices. The outdated practices
which include forced marriages at a young age expose these girls to early pregnancies,
 The incidences of teen pregnancies has been high in the pastoralist communities in
Kenya. Most of these teen pregnancies are caused by a variety f factors which includes;
 Forced or early marriages
 Family community or the social pressure for girls to marry
 Lack of education about reproductive health.
• Teen pregnancies remain a key issue in contributing to the many young girls
dropping out of school. Pregnant girls also face health risks and complications
because of their immature bodies.
• Girls who get pregnant at school going age feel embarrassed going back to school
and they opt ending their education. The ones that go back to school do not perform
well in their studies as caring for their children makes them miss school and
therefore miss important lessons in the classroom.
• Furthermore, unmarried pregnant adolescent in these pastoralist communities face
stigma , rejection by peers and parents and even face violence. These girls undergo
a lot of stress in their life therefore hindering their education performance or even
missing to return back to school.
• In tackling this challenge, there is need for more focus in raising awareness
about reproductive health and their rights to protect them from abuse. The
Kenya government has put up measures to help tackle the root cause of early
pregnancies to help deal with the challenge.
• More needs to be done going forward to fight this problem in these nomadic
communities. Moreover, there is need for more establishment of social
programs to teach the parents of these children to create awareness about
reproductive education.
• Through effective social educational programs, girls will be able to get to know
the importance of their education and the need to protect themselves from early
pregnancies.
• Though it is challenging for a cultural belief to be entirely erased from a
community, there need to set up adequate steps to enable the pastoralist
communities in Kenya to change slowly.
 Impacts of Fgm

 Female Genital Mutilation is the ritual cutting of female genital. It is a common cultural
practices among the pastoralist communities in Kenya. Despite several attempts to curb FGM,
this type of violence against young girls continues to be a normal practice in some of the
communities.
 Girls have been socialised to believe that they have to under the procedure in their lifetime
and failure to it they are not accepted in the community. They are therefore forced to undergo
these cultural practice to fulfill their culture even though it has adverse impact on them. The
Maasai community for instance make their girls undergo these ritual at a early age and then
force them into marriage.
 Once girls in these communities undergo this ritual, their education is impacted. Many do not
complete their schooling and progress in life. Since it is a rite of passage in these communities,
it triggers young girls as young as 12 years to be sexually active and are exposed to early
marriages as they are perceived as women.
• Some of the instances of these practice can cause girls to bleed to
death, since the act is done by traditional cutters. In addition, after
being cut girls stay absent from school as they struggle healing or
some suffer from infections. Due to these challenge the girl child
education is impacted negatively and mainly the boy child are more in
schools in these communities.
• The Kenyan government outlawed the cultural practice but it is still
practiced, as the communities believe it is necessary. They believe
that it increases their daughter's marriage prospect. FGM is one of the
most extreme type of violence against young girls in these
communities which hinders their education progress.
• Most of the traditional organizers of these practice do it in secret
manner. Some of the young girls in these pastoralist communities in
Kenya are tricked into accepting to undergo this act. Once they have
undergo these rite of passage they are easily sold off for marriage in
exchange of cattle. The practice greatly impact the education of these
girls and they miss out their schooling easily as compared to the boy
child.
 Impact of the migratory pattern of
pastoralist communities

 Pastoralist lifestyle involve the movement from one area to the other in
search of water and pasture for their cattle. Most of them move with their
cattle from one place to the other in response to the climatic conditions.
 The pastoralists livelihood entails migrating and following the rains, therefore
they do not set up permanent shelters. Their life is characterized by constant
mobility from one region to the other. The Pokot community for instance
migrate all the way to Uganda whenever they is drought in Kenya. The act
makes girls miss out education for several periods during their stay in those
places outside their country.
 The livelihood has a negative impact on the education of the girl child. Their
movement from one region to the other interrupts the education schedule of
the girls since they all have to migrate with their families.
• As they migrate, they eventually miss education programs and finally they
even leave school in situations that the drought persist and have to
migrate to long distances. In most of these place where the pastoralist
communities live they do not have permanent learning facilities. Therefore
girls are not engaged in education programs.
• In tackling this challenge the Kenyan government has established the
concept of mobile schools. The mobile schools enables for education
programs to be offered to the school going children in different places they
migrate to. In the concept of mobile schools, these communities move with
a mobile school teacher.
• Though this is still a difficult thing to fully implement ,since different
families migrate to separate locations making it difficult for teachers to
access them. The migration patterns of these communities still is a
hindrance to their education and they face a challenge in following the
normal set out curriculum. It is therefore necessary to establish more ways
of giving out education programs to these communities for them to benefit
effectively.
Impact of early Marriage

 Early marriage has been a subject of discussion with respect to the girl child
education in the pastoralist communities in Kenya. Education is a vital social
objective of the society, education enables the society to gain knowledge and
progress. Early marriage has been the main contributing factors for girls missing
their education.
 The practice of early marriage by these communities hinders the girl child
education and their psychological well being. The practice denies young girls their
right to education since after being married they are supposed to concentrate in
family issues. Therefore, they will no longer see the value of education in their life.
 The cause of early marriages is due to poverty which is rife and high in these
communities. Both the direct and hidden cost of providing education to girls are
restrictive to many parents .They therefore see girls as their source of wealth since
they will be married off and they receive bride price.
• Most of these pastoralist communities force girls to be married off hence
this do not enable the girl child to complete their education. Girls in
most of the pastoralist communities in Kenya are sold off at early age as
12. Most of the factors that makes parents sell their girls at this age is
due to high poverty levels that faces them.
• Moreover, early marriages exposes girls to pregnancies and getting more
children therefore making it difficult for them to come back and continue
with their education. The Kenya government has established several
measures including legislations but the practice is still on in the villages.
• Parents who sell out their children do it in a secret manner to avoid being
caught by the local authorities. There is need therefore for more
emphasis on community educational programs to help fight the practice
and enable girls pursue their education.
 Conclusion

In conclusion, there still exist a significant amount of cultural challenges that faces the
pastoralist communities in Kenya. The cultural practices impact negatively on the
provision of formal education to the girl child. Several of the cultural principles by
these communities have made them become backward in several things as far as
education is concerned. It is therefore necessary to come up with adequate strategies
by the government and the other partners in establishing education programs that fit
the pastoralist life. The strategies need to be more friendly to these communities as
most still hold their cultural practices strictly. Moreover, the Kenya government need
work in partnership with the welfare organizations to help protect the girl child in
these pastoralist communities.
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