The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF), a Sharjah-based global humanitarian organisation has launched a project to construct a girls’ boarding secondary school at the Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement in Turkana County.
The project which is funded by a Sh 111million grant from Sharjah Charity House will benefit 360 girl students, which will include refugees in the settlement as well as girls from the surrounding host community. The school which will be fully equipped with furniture, laboratories, libraries, teachers’ offices, dormitories and washrooms, is expected to be ready in time for the 2021 academic year.
Kalobeyei settlement
The Kalobeyei settlement was opened in Turkana County in Kenya in 2016 with the intention of promoting the self-reliance of refugees and the host population and delivering integrated services to both. The project is expected to boost gross enrolment numbers.
Currently nearly half of school-aged children are out of school in the Turkana County region, where the settlement is located. Girl students constitute only 24.5% of the overall enrolment. While there are 26 primary schools in the region, only seven secondary schools are available in Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei Settlement, supporting learning for 13,000 students. One of the secondary schools is a girl’s boarding school situated in Kakuma.
The Kalobeyei Settlement has only one non-boarding school for girls. In 2019, more than 400 girls applied for a spot at the school but only 90 could be accommodated due to space constraints. The demand is projected to grow rapidly in 2020 and beyond.
