Mobile pastoralists & education

Educating nomadic peoples in the context of rapid global socio-economic change is a challenge of massive proportions. The paper “Mobile pastoralists and education: strategic options” (2009, 68pp) by Saverio Krätli and Caroline Dyer was developed in close collaboration with the Ministry of State for Development of Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands, and the Ministry of Education in Kenya, under the aegis of SOS Sahel UK.

It sets out to address this challenge in two ways. Firstly, it maps out the conceptual terrain, analysing the key debates in relation to terms that are often misleadingly used as if they were interchangeable – education, schooling and learning. Greater clarity on terminology, and its underlying assumptions, shows how the educational marginalisation of nomadic groups has been created and sustained. Secondly, building on this analysis, the paper reviews successful and innovative approaches to education provision around the world that can inform and inspire new approaches to nomadic education. As old assumptions are challenged and corrected, obstacles that previously seemed insurmountable can be overcome. This paper shows that successful policy is possible, and that progress is being made – but only when both the conceptual and the practical aspects of educational provision for nomads are considered at the same time.

Posted on 3 February 2017 in Pastoralism & Services