Government working to make schools habitable, Ruto assures
By People Team, October 1, 2019Irene Githinji, Yusuf Masibo and Noven Owiti
The government is working to make all schools habitable for learners, towards providing a sense of stability and safety, Deputy President William Ruto said yesterday.
He said the value of a conducive environment for effective learning is unquestionable and that infrastructure plays a big part of education and the outcome.
“Good infrastructure provides a sense of safety and stability allowing children to concentrate on their studies.
Schools are powerful knowledge incubation centres and the skills learners acquire are a bedrock for transformation agenda of our country,” said Ruto when he opened classrooms at Makhele and Nasianda primary schools in Kimilili, Bungoma.
He made the remarks as Education Cabinet secretary Prof George Magoha decried political interference especially in the Precious Talents School pupils relocation.
Political interferance
He said compared to Kibra, where at least four schools with about 500 children were closed, some 240 pupils have already moved Ayany Primary School unlike the situation at Precious Talent which has seen a negligible number agree to join Ngong Forest and Jamhuri Primary schools.
Some 480 learners were to be placed at Ngong Forest Primary school, 180 at Jamhuri Primary and another 130 to Riruta Satellite Primary.
“The relocation has happened in Kibra because there are no politics but in Precious school there are dirty politics and it is obstructing what we are supposed to do.
The children are going to Ngong Forest primary at a slow pace and the highest number of about 40 have gone to Jamhuri Primary,” said the CS when he monitored relocation of learners.
Magoha said Ngong Forest Primary had received about 30 students, a situation he attributed to confusion politicians have been causing to parents and children.
“For avoidance of doubt, the government closed the institution… if and when it is rebuild to our standards, we will inspect and re-open it to any child who wants to go back there.
At the moment, no one will allow children there, it is a crime scene, human lives were lost because of negligence of certain people and all of them, both in private and government, must be held accountable,” Magoha affirmed.
“I have a feeling that certain people are inciting parents not to let the children go. I am pleading with them to please allow me to do my work the best way I can.
The decision on whether I should leave government or not belongs to someone else, I am not afraid that is why I am on the ground so that something like this does not happen again and if that is not good enough so be it,” he added.
And as government deals with unstable infrastructure in schools, Ruto put on notice headteachers and board of management of public day secondary schools who have been sending students for fees.
He said government is paying school fees and it was unacceptable to request other funds from parents. ‘’Education in day schools is absolutely free and burdening parents to pay more fees is a criminal offense’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Nyeri Deputy governor Caroline Karugu has urged the government to conduct an audit of all primary school facilities to assess their levels of suitability to pupils living with disabilities.
Karugu said most learning institutions lack favourable facilities for pupils living with physical challenges and expose them to unhygienic standards.
Self regulation
“When I visited one of the schools, I was extremely emotional when I found students who cannot walk, crawling to the bathroom. My plea to the Ministry of Education is to sanction an audit of these schools because they are lacking facilities conducive to pupils living with disabilities,” Karugu said when she launched Wezesha Elimu Programme yesterday.
Elsewhere, the Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA) has called for establishment of self-regulation mechanisms in the institutions in bid to enhance safety standards.
KPSA chief executive officer Peter Ndoro said lack of proper reinforcement of the existing safety regulations in many schools, particularly the private ones, was to blame for the concerns over poor learning infrastructure being experienced.
And in Kisumu, county Director of Education Isaac Atebe has siad an audit is ongoing to establish if there are cases of schools with sub-standard learning infrastructure.
Atebe said all primary and secondary school heads in the county have been directed to assess the institutions infrastructure strength to determine whether they pose danger to the learners.