Northern Kenya has experienced longstanding marginalisation and unequal access to public services. For students and families, limited infrastructure and financial pressures can make education difficult to access and sustain. These barriers exist alongside the commitment of teachers, families and young people working towards a different future.
Samburu: the literacy gap
In Samburu County, Kenya’s 2022 Demographic and Health Survey estimated literacy at 45.3% among women aged 15–49, compared with 72.5% among men. This difference of 27.2 percentage points illustrates an inequality whose effects extend beyond school, influencing access to information, further learning and employment opportunities.
This is a county-level estimate, not a figure specific to Maralal or to current school attendance, but it helps explain the starting point many students and families face.
The local school landscape helps place this gap in context. According to Samburu County’s 2024 Statistical Abstract, published by the county government together with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the county counted 57 secondary schools in 2023 (52 public, 5 private). That same year, 6,530 candidates sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), up from 4,549 in 2019: more children are completing primary school, which increases pressure on the relatively small number of available secondary-school places.
Kakuma: access to secondary school
In Kakuma refugee camp, displacement adds further challenges to educational continuity. According to a Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) report using October 2023 data, the gross secondary-school enrolment rate stood at 45.5%, with substantial differences between boys (72.1%) and girls (26.4%).
Gross enrolment counts secondary students of all ages relative to the secondary-school-age population. It should not be interpreted as the percentage of adolescents attending secondary school.
An education often delayed or interrupted
The same report indicates that approximately 70% of secondary learners in Kakuma were older than the standard 14–18 age range. Interrupted schooling and limited opportunities to begin education at the usual age can leave young people starting or resuming their studies later. Continuing education may therefore involve catching up while taking on increasing responsibilities outside the classroom.
Why sustained support matters
These realities help explain STORM’s commitment to sustained support. Working alongside local partners, we support students’ educational journeys and aim to remain connected beyond secondary school, helping them explore opportunities for further study, training and careers.
The statistics in this article describe the wider educational context in which we work. They are not measures of STORM’s own programme results.
Sources: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Samburu County Gender Datasheet (indicator E1, Kenya DHS 2022); Samburu County Government and KNBS, 2024 Statistical Abstract Samburu County; Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Breaking Down Barriers: Increasing Girls’ Access to and Completion of Secondary Education in Kakuma (2024); World Bank, North and North Eastern Development Initiative (NEDI) reporting on regional inequality in northern Kenya.