Adrian catches up with a mobile school - what difference can they make?
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Adrian: Here, we’ve got a mobile school or we’ve got a mobile school teacher. Will have to ask him to find out more.

[The class talks in their local language]

Adrian: Hello there, hi.

Teacher: Hi.

Adrian: What’s the lesson today?

Teacher: We have times.

Adrian: Parts of the body?

Teacher: Parts of the body, yeah.

Adrian: I’m Adrian.

Teacher: Thank you.

Adrian: Who are you?

Teacher: Fine.

Adrian: Who are you?

Teacher: Fine sir.

Adrian: What’s your name?

Teacher: My name is Scholl Hararab Elabduraman.

Adrian: Pleased to meet you?

Teacher: Thank you.

Adrian: Explain the lesson?

Teacher: Today, we are going to learn our body parts.

Children: Body parts.

Teacher: Especially…

Children: Especially…

Teacher: …part of the eye.

Children: …part of the eye.

Teacher: One of the parts of the eye is the eye brow.

Children: Eye brow.

Teacher: What do you call a eye brow?

Children: Eye brow.

Teacher: The eye brow is here.

Children: Eye brow.

Teacher: The eyelid…

Children: The eyelid…

Teacher: …here. The skin above the eye is called? Is called the eyelid. Say eye lid.

Children: Eyelid.

Teacher: Eyelid.

Children: Eyelid.

Teacher: Eyelid.

Children: Eyelid.

Teacher: This is the standard one.

Adrian: This is the standard one, yeah, for writing the alphabet?

Teacher: They supposed to learn today they had English, they learn how to write alphabets in big letters and the small letters. Standard one [children repeat the alphabet as teacher goes through it] A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-L-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z.

Adrian: And this is a mobile school, yes?

Teacher: Yeah.

Adrian: So when did it first come to this settlement?

Teacher: Been here for so long for me.

Adrian: Yeah?

Teacher: Yeah [unclear] so one month since I was here.

Adrian: All right, so only a month or so? … all the elder children like?

Teacher: Here, they’re [unclear] also. Sometimes I teach them together because most of the time the students are not around. Some they look after the animals. Some are not now around here. They come at night, I teach them at night.

Adrian: I’ve seen the tent with the light, yeah.

Teacher: Yeah.

Adrian: So that’s because the children can’t get here during the day because they’re looking after animals?

Teacher: Yeah and the night time, that is what they use [unclear]. They do their lessons from eight until maybe ten. There are some who are here who are taking their lessons, the lessons they learn today is again the same lesson I also teach the ones who are absent.

Adrian: All right, yeah.

Teacher: That’s what they do. Here, I have also some class two and class three together. There are now some class three which went to look after the animals.

Adrian: Can any of these children go on to other schools after this?

Teacher: Yeah, some who can go ahead and do in other schools. Very tough children here.

Adrian: Can you show me which ones?

Teacher: Amit.

Adrian: Pleased to meet you, I’m Adrian.

Amit: Salaam.

Adrian: How do you do. So this is your bright student?

Teacher: One of the bright students this one, yes, one of them.

Adrian: And he can go on to another school afterwards?

Teacher: Yeah, he can join class three.

Adrian: I see and where will he do that?

Teacher: Maybe you can take him for Wajir primary school.

Adrian: And will he have to be, I mean his family live here with this community, will he have to board when he goes there?

Teacher: He’s one, he’s living right now with his mother and his father but at all, the governors will force him if he is supposed to continue his education ahead, he supposed to do it in other schools who are nearby, maybe like Japor primary school.

Adrian: And how will he get there? Will he go and stay there as a boarder?

Teacher: Maybe as a boarder, yeah. Yes, so board in that school, they can take him.

Adrian: What does he want to do with his life? What does he want to do once he’s finished school?

[The class talk in their local language]

Teacher: He says that I want to be a teacher.

Adrian: Ah he wants to be like you. He’s saying that because you’re here. That’s a good idea though. If he goes to boarding school, who pays for the boarding? I know the primary school education is free but who…?

Teacher: No the primary school is free. The government is paying [unclear] there’s no payment.

Adrian: What the government pay for the boarding as well?

Teacher: Yeah, everything.

Adrian: They would? They pay for him to stay there?

Teacher: Feeding, except that may be what he needs his clothing from his father.

Adrian: Right, I see. There’s a lot of children around in this area.

Teacher: Yeah.

Adrian: Do they all come to school?

Teacher: No. This school is specifically for this only family.

Adrian: Just for this family?

Teacher: Yeah. This family who are in the bush, they don’t have schools. There are some who are saying we want the schools but they are not getting it. They’re asking for schools.

Adrian: Do all the children in this family go to school?

Teacher: Yeah, most, most…

Adrian: So if there were more of these schools?

Teacher: Maybe the ones who don’t come at the daytime, they come at the night. That’s what we do. Of course, not all of them, they cannot stay out of the school the whole day, all of them, and they cannot come at the same time at once to school. And so we did an arrangement that some look after the animals in the daytime so they come for their lesson at nighttime, and the ones who also have a lesson in the daytime, they can assist their parents and look after animals - not look after, maybe milking and some work they will do at the night. And there are those who will still come for revisions to learn with their former class who have been looking after the animals during the day.

Adrian: Are you trained as a teacher?

Teacher: Ah.

Adrian: Where do you train?

Teacher: No, I mean I’m not trained. I’m just a fourth form leaver.

Adrian: A fourth form leaver?

Teacher: A fourth form leaver, yeah but still I’ve not got my training.

Adrian: So do you want to go to teacher training college?

Teacher: Of course, if at all, as you understand I need, it’s very much what I need, you know.