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Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has cautioned  primary school headteachers against demanding any money for  infrastructure development from  parents, saying this has been catered for by the government.

Machogu (pictured) said there are some schools which are asking money from parents of students in the Junior Secondary School for the construction of extra classrooms terming it as unlawful. Speaking at Mumbi grounds in Murang’a when he graced the county bursaries issuance even for the best performing KCPE pupils, the Cs said there are enough classrooms to accommodate the Junior Secondary School students.

He pointed out that the government has allocated Sh3.3 billion to be distributed to all the 290 constituencies for the construction of 6,000 classrooms. Further, he added, the World Bank has injected Sh9 billion for construction of additional 9,000 classrooms across the country.

“In total we will have 15,000 new classrooms to be constructed by next year to accommodate the Grade Nine students,” he said.

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“No parent should be a penny for construction of classroom and those teachers asking for this money should desist from doing it” he added.

Machogu also said the government through the ministry of education will ensure the junior secondary schools are fully equipped to facilitate smooth learning for the students.

The CS further said the government has released Sh7.6 billion to the JSS to cater for all the three levels. He said they expect a hundred per cent transition for all the 1.3 million pupils who sat for the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment, adding that no child should stay at home due to lack of fees. He further directed that the grade seven students be allowed to use the old uniform to give parents time to buy new ones.

On form one admissions set to start from today, Machogu said the government has allocated Sh3.3 billion to cater for scholarships for the needy but bright students to sponsor them through secondary education.

Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata said his bursary programme seeks cover the children from vulnerable background and those living with disabilities.

He also urged the locals to embrace day secondary schools saying they have an equal potential like the boarding school.