School Where pupils study under trees and watch out for deadly Scorpions

Among the Maasai, 'loosampurpur' means happiness and this must have been the spirit and intention behind a community's decision to set up a school and give it that name. But names can be deceiving because six years on, the pupils of Loosampurpur Primary School have known nothing but sorrow. With no school buildings, the pupils are forced to learn under trees - despite this being among Government-sponsored schools in Marigat district - while the staff of six teachers struggle under difficult conditions.

When The Standard visited the school located in the remote Mukutani division on Wednesday, we found some pupils playing while others gathered under scattered leafless trees in the sweltering sun receiving instruction from their teachers. Sweltering heat The head teacher, Michael Naremo, said the school, which has more than 100 pupils, has only one semi-permanent structure that is used as both a staffroom and a store. "This structure you see serves as the staffroom, store and classroom. The working conditions here are extremely difficult but we have sacrificed our lives for the sake of these children," he said. Mr Naremo, who we found teaching Standard Two pupils under a tree, said the school goes up to Standard Four yet has only three teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission. "The school came into being following sustained attacks by Pokot raiders in Rugus location, which forced parents and their children to flee. The school grounds were once a grazing field inhabited by dangerous reptiles and wild animals," he said. Naremo said conducting lessons was a great challenge because teachers and students have to contend with harsh weather conditions including heavy rain and the uncompromising scorching sun.

"There are many times, especially during the dry spell, when we have had to call off lessons after poisonous snakes stray into our ' classrooms'. The Government has abandoned us but we are determined to soldier on," said senior teacher Miriam Kaptim. Ironically, while other Kenyans pray for rain, this community dreads such 'blessings' because the consequences only add to their grief. Classes have to be suspended as pupils run to the only available classroom while others shelter under bushes.

Teachers also say they spend more time chasing after and controlling pupils than they do teaching. They say because lessons are held under trees, pupils are easily distracted by their surroundings. The young children also have no playground and must manoeuvre their way around numerous deadly scorpions, which have round-the-clock access to their outdoor classroom. As though all this were not enough, in order to quench their thirst, they must walk to a seasonal stream six kilometres away despite the presence of a 10,000-litre plastic water tank bought recently by a donor, which stands majestically between the ' classrooms'. At the end of every day, the pupils collect the blackboards and take them to the semi-permanent store until the next day. No better During our tour, we encountered a Standard Three Christian Religious Education teacher, Simon ole Nabori, teaching his pupils about forgiving those who wrong you. A pertinent lesson considering that the Illchamus community living in the area have had to contend with their Pokot brothers who they accuse of being behind their decade-old tribulations.

The teachers say these children suffer from complicated eye problems due to exposure to direct sunlight, strong winds and dust. According to the head teacher, the school has tried to engage parents to have more temporary structures put up but these efforts have borne no fruit. "We are now at our wits' end and it is time for the Government to intervene," he said. But while it may appear that Loosampurpur Primary School has more negatives than positives, locals embrace the school wholly because before it was established, children as young as five years were forced to walk more than six kilometres to Logumgum Primary School in search of knowledge. The young pupils were eventually forced to drop out of school due to the difficulty of accessing the school. Unfortunately, there was no alternative as Logumgum Primary School is itself in dire need of Government intervention, though of a different nature - decongestion. Here, every classroom is full to capacity, with every desk accommodating four pupils across the seven classes, which is far from the recommended two learners per desk policy.

"The different school uniforms you see here represent the schools where these children studied before they were displaced by constant raids. This school can be now be described as a rescue centre," Lebene Enoch, a teacher at the school, told The Standard. The school has eight teachers against a population of 370 learners.