The relationship between family location and access of children to primary school in Samburu County, Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to determine the relationship between family location and children's access to primary school in Samburu County, Kenya. Three agro-ecological zones and regions (Highland-Rural, Lowland-Rural, and Urban) impact differently on access to basic formal education among the nomadic pastoral Samburu. To facilitate the data collection, Samburu District was stratified into three clusters – Highland-Rural, Lowland-Rural and Urban. Multi-stage and random sampling were used to select from each cluster, one division, one location, one sub-location and then 200 household heads from all the villages in the sub-location. That is moving from the division down to the villages using random sampling. Data were collected and analysed using Excel and SPSS computer packages and further presented using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study recommends that for the government and/or non-governmental organisations undertaking interviews and programmes to improve the well-being of nomadic pastoralists (like the provision of schools), there is a need to take the various zones into consideration. More significantly, this study found that agro-ecological zones have a significant influence on access to basic formal education in Samburu District.