The purpose of the study was to assess the viability of the modalities to provision of primaryrneducation for the children of pastoralists in Afar National Regional State. It was assessedrnalongside the strategies and standards designed to promote education in pastoral areas ofrnEthiopia. To this end, the study examined the relevancy of Alternative Modalities, theirrnimplementations and effectiveness. Mixed methods research approach with concurrent embeddedrndesign was employed. Using stratified, purposeful, random and snowball-sampling techniques, arntotal of 58 learning centers, schools and offices were used as data sources. 291 individuals havernbeen involved in the study. The data were collected using questionnaires, interview, focus grouprndiscussion and document analysis. Qualitative data were analyzed with comparative and contentrnanalysis techniques. Quantitative data were analyzed with mean, percentages, t-tests, One-WayrnAnalysis of Variance, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The study unveiled mobility, child labor,rndrought, poverty, and funding problems were the main challenges to use the formal schoolrnsystem. Some of the existing strategies and input standards of alternative modalities were foundrnwanting; due attention was not given for alternative modalities. Alternative Basic Educationrnfound to be successful to get enrolled the target areas’ children and maintained gender parity butrncould not retain those enrolled and maintain quality. The Region lacks implementation capacityrnto make the modalities effective. In short, the modalities were not found to be viable to promoternquality education for all pastoral children. Suggestions were forwarded to improve some of thernstrategies and standards, to redesign the management structures, to develop strategies to securerncompetent teachers if Sustainable development goal four is needed to meet by 2030. Otherwise,rnthe pastoral children will remain disadvantaged.rnKey words: alternative modality, relevant, viability, pastoralist, challenge, strategy, standard