West pokot county: In the arid, sun-baked expanses of West Pokot County, education has long been a luxury deferred by geography, poverty, and conflict. For generations, children of pastoralist communities walked long miles across rugged terrains, their futures frequently disrupted by cross-border cattle rustling. Yet today, against the backdrop of these historical struggles, an architectural marvel rises from the dusty landscape. Sangak Primary School stands out as a beacon of modern educational infrastructure, setting a bold new benchmark for primary learning institutions in the region and across Kenya.
According to Kenya News Agency, built by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) as part of its strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) and community integration initiatives tied to major road corridor developments, this ultra-modern facility represents a tangible realization of the Social Pillar of Kenya Vision 2030. The social pillar aims to build a just, cohesive, and equitable society by expanding access to quality education. Sangak is proof that state-of-the-art facilities can thrive in marginalized areas.
Monica Chepchumba, an ECDE teacher who has been at the school since its inception, says the school, situated along the West Pokot-Turkana border, has the remarkable ability to attract and retain students who would otherwise be left out of the formal education system. She explains that the institution currently accommodates 600 pupils, serving children from Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) up to Grade 6, and functions under a flexible learning model as both a day and boarding school, thus offering safe residential options that cushion pupils from long daily commutes through volatile territory.
For the learners, the school is more than just an academic center; it is a haven of peace. The institution was intentionally established to bring together children from rival, warring cross-border communities. By introducing them to shared classrooms and dormitories at an early age, Sangak is systematically dismantling deep-seated historical animosities.
Despite surpassing the facilities of many standard public primary schools across Kenya, Sangak Primary School is fighting a quiet, desperate battle to keep its doors open due to the socio-economic hardships experienced in the area. Chepchumba highlights that the area is completely unproductive, with parents depending solely on small-scale gold mining to eke out a living. When parents cannot provide food at home, most children simply do not turn up for classes.
To mitigate this, parents initially resolved to contribute a modest levy to finance a daily school meals program, but this fund is stretched far beyond nutrition. The fund is inadequate, as the school relies on the same pool of money to pay Board of Management (BOM/PTA) teachers and cover the wages of support staff. Chepchumba appeals for integration into the national school feeding program to stabilize attendance.
While the school is equipped with a modern dining facility, it relies entirely on a localized solar power grid which cannot generate the required high voltage to run heavy heating appliances. This forces them to cook meals outside using firewood, an arrangement that becomes impossible during the heavy rain season, leaving vulnerable pupils without food.
Water presents another challenge. Although a borehole was drilled to provide a dedicated water source, its output is excessively saline and cannot be consumed or used for cooking, thus only useful for basic cleaning. To provide potable water, the school must purchase expensive water supplies delivered by commercial bowsers. Without a centralized storage tank, they rely on an improvised system with teachers donating their personal jerry cans to store drinking water for hundreds of pupils.
Sanitation also poses challenges. The school was built with indoor pit latrines inside the dormitories to maximize safety at night, but young pupils struggle with the unfamiliar latrines, resulting in constant blockages that staff must manually unblock daily. Chepchumba appeals for assistance to build traditional, reliable outdoor pit latrines better suited to the rural environment.
Beyond basic utilities, security remains a concern given the volatile nature of the border corridor where rival communities clash. The school lacks a secure perimeter wall, leaving pupils and staff vulnerable to external threats. Additionally, the absence of a school transport system prevents hundreds of children living in remote settlements from enrolling, despite a massive local demand for education.
The success story of KeNHA’s infrastructural investment demonstrates that changing lives through education is possible even in remote regions. However, sustaining this transformation requires a multisectoral approach from various institutions. Investing in water purification systems, a dedicated storage tank, perimeter fencing, and sustained food aid will preserve this vital peace-building institution. Only then can the modern classrooms of Sangak Primary School truly fulfill their promise of turning a historical conflict zone into a permanent cradle of equity, learning, and national unity.
