Education
Apart from their signature conservation work, Lewa Conservancy through the Lewa Education Programme (LEP) has been championing education, especially in the Northern parts of Kenya, to shape the future and change the lives of children in the area.
Since 2000, LEP has supported more than 50,000 students in acquiring knowledge and skills needed to pursue better economic opportunities while inculcating a deep understanding of conservation.
According to the Conservancy’s Programmes and Partnerships Coordinator Mr John Kinoti, the programme also collaborated with 23 public schools, providing 7,500 students with critical support ranging from school fees, uniforms, transportation and school supplies to counselling and mentoring the youth from the indigenous communities surrounding the conservancy.
Guided by the needs expressed by teachers, schools and community members, the LEP invested in teacher training, infrastructure development, student scholarships, student mentorship, and digital literacy classes.
Mr Kinoti added that more than 5,000 learners in Lewa supported schools have been benefitting from a feeding programme and more than 300 receive full scholarships every year through the conservancy’s bursary programme.
“We have also ensured that 2,300 girls from 23 Lewa-supported schools benefitted from the sanitary towels programme. It is also worth noting that 52 per cent of the bursary students scored a C+ and above in the 2021 national exams, up from 48 per cent in 2020 since we started the programme and this has been increasing since then,” said Mr Kinoti.
Lewa’s Digital literacy programme is part of LEP and the two work closely together. According to Mr Kinoti, the digital literacy programme’s success has garnered the attention of many stakeholders, and it is set to be replicated and upscaled by the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) across their member conservancies as a model for effective community engagement.
To supplement the national digital literacy programme and ensure students in remote northern Kenya schools have access to quality education, Lewa provided free, age-appropriate digital content that was accessible offline, as well as library infrastructure and management technology.
“Digitally savvy students can pursue careers in technology and thrive in global labour markets, increasing their economic potential and providing them and their communities with a better alternative source of livelihood,” said Mr Kinoti.
He added that more than 8,000 learners leveraged technology in the classroom with 23 schools supported, gaining free offline access to programme content, 763 tablets distributed, and 19 offline content access points installed. This, he added is in addition to 103 laptops distributed, 56 specktron boards distributed, and three internet access points created, giving students access to government-provided learning content.
At least 200 teachers have also been trained in ICT integration. In the same vein, LEP has been increasing students’ understanding of ecological complexities and empowered youth in Northern Kenya to address the most pressing environmental issues confronting their communities.
“Students were taken on game drives, as part of the programme’s activities, exposing them to the flora and fauna in the region and instilling an appreciation for biodiversity and conservation in them,” said Mr Kinoti.
In partnership with Tusk, Mr Kinoti added that Lewa’s Conservation Education Programme (CEP) delivered conservation education content and resources to 23 Lewa-supported schools through technology, culminating in a publication in the IZE journal (Mugo E et al., 2022).