Kipsang: 17,000 classrooms to be built

The government has started an ambitious programme to build more than 17,000 classrooms in public primary schools that will accommodate Grade Nine students in January next year, a senior Education ministry official has said.

Government-funded infrastructure projects were going on as planned, said Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang (pictured), seeking to allay fears from education stakeholders about inadequate learning space and other infrastructure.

Critics claimed that the government had not set aside enough resources for building classrooms for students in Grade Eight.

“There should be no cause for alarm, since the government has set aside resources [for] desks and chairs, besides classrooms for learners who will be transiting to Grade Nine next year,” Kipsang said.

He was speaking on Saturday at Moi Girls in Eldoret during the 96th National Kenya Music Festival in which more than 140 public and private primary schools are participating.

Kipsang’s remarks came after education stakeholders expressed concerns over whether Grade Nine will move to secondary schools or remain in primary schools.

Secondary school principals have said they will have vacant classrooms that could be used by Grade Nine students.

Led by their chairman Willy Kuria, principals said their schools were ready to host Grade Nine, though President William Ruto had asserted that Grade Nine would remain in primary schools.