Effects of Murran System’s Indigenous Knowledge on Maasai Youth’s School Attendance in Narok District, Kenya

Abstract

Kenyan Maasai is a pastoral society that lives in arid and semi-arid lands across the Kenya — Tanzania border. The society has a barracks-like institution called the Murran system where male youths are formally trained
in preparation for community life. The study was conducted among the Maasai of Narok District, Kenya. Being a qualitative study, its data was collected through respondent interviews and examination of primary and secondary documentary sources. The study found that the Indigenous Knowledge of the Maasai Murran system has comprehensive and diversified community-focused attributes that have profound effects on school attendance by male Maasai youths of Narok District. The attributes of Indigenous Knowledge learned during Maasai Murran system make male Maasai youths who had already enrolled in school to drop out and those who had never enrolled to shun school for good.

Key words: Murran System; Indigenous Knowledge; School-based
Education