SAMBURU – Samburu County has launched a Universal Transitional Kindergarten and scaled up its school feeding program targeting 40,800 Early Childhood Development (ECD) learners across about 500 centers as schools reopen next week.
This follows a three-year partnership signed between the County Government of Samburu and the Kenya Drylands Education Fund (KDEF) to strengthen delivery and monitoring of food in ECD centres.
Under the deal, KDEF will transport food and independently monitor distribution to ECD centres, while the county will procure the food. The food will be delivered to around 500 schools over the next three years.
County Education CECM Mark Egelan said access to education will also help reduce crime, noting children in school are less likely to engage in theft and criminal activities.
Egelan thanked KDEF for supporting education in Samburu and called on other education partners to collaborate with the county. He said the county will ensure food is available and delivered, and thanked Governor Lati Lelelit for allocating food funds in the county budget.
“If children’s education was not prioritized by county leadership, the feeding funds would not have been in the budget,” Egelan said.
KDEF Administrator Ahmed Kura said their responsibility now is to ensure food reaches all 500 schools for three years, adding their main goal is to support the county to provide children with education and a conducive learning environment.
The event was attended by County Secretary Wilson Lesuuda, CECM Education Mark Egelan, KDEF Administrator Ahmed Kura, members of the County Assembly Education Committee, Chief Officer for Education Sarafino Lasangurikuri, Chief Officer for Roads and Transport David Lenakula, and other senior county officials.
