DNK International By Our Reporter,Nairobi.
The Executive Director of Action for Sustainable Change (AFOSC-Kenya), Mohamed Sheikh, has called for urgent and targeted interventions to address persistent educational exclusion in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), warning that the situation continues to disadvantage thousands of children, especially girls.
Speaking on the state of education in marginalized regions, Sheikh noted that girls are disproportionately affected by school dropouts and non enrolment in ASAL areas due to a combination of poverty, cultural practices, early marriages, insecurity, and long distances to learning institutions.
He cited Mandera County as a worrying example, revealing that at least 21 out of every 100 children of school going age are currently out of school.
According to Sheikh, this statistic reflects a broader national challenge facing ASAL counties, where education indicators remain significantly below the national average.
“Without deliberate and sustained investment in education, we risk perpetuating a cycle of poverty, inequality and social exclusion,” Sheikh said, emphasizing that educating girls remains one of the most effective ways of transforming communities and improving long term development outcomes.
The AFOSC-Kenya Executive Director urged the national and county governments, development partners, and non state actors to scale up interventions such as school feeding programmes, mobile schools, bursaries, community sensitization, and improved security to ensure children particularly girls are enrolled and retained in school.
He further stressed that education should be treated as a rights based issue, calling for inclusive policies that respond to the unique challenges faced by ASAL communities.
AFOSC-Kenya has been actively involved in advocacy and community based initiatives aimed at promoting access to education, social justice, and sustainable development across marginalized regions of the country.
[DNK-International@January 26,2026]
