The government has allocated Sh.3.9 Billion for the construction of an additional 15,021 classrooms for Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) by 2025 to accommodate the first-grade 9 learners.
Education Cabinet Secretary, Hon. Ezekiel Machogu said to ensure the readiness of the classrooms in 2025, a further Sh 9 Billion will be provided by the World Bank for the construction of 9,000 classrooms and support from the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF).
The Cabinet Secretary made the remarks while he officially opened the 63rd Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Annual Delegates Conference at the Kasarani Sports Complex, Nairobi under the theme “The teachers we need for the education we want: The Kenyan Imperative to reverse the teacher shortage.”
He said the Government is taking steps to ensure that schools have the necessary infrastructure, where teachers and learners can effectively perform in a conducive environment.
Hon. Machogu acknowledged KNUT delegates for championing teachers’ welfare to promote and protect their interests across the country, noting that it has improved the performance of learners in schools.
“We remain committed as the Government to working with you to improve both the welfare of teachers and quality of Education for all in our schools,” the Cabinet Secretary said.
He said teachers are a major stakeholder in ensuring the successful implementation of CBC and other recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.
The Cabinet Secretary also challenged the school administrators to advance the Government’s agenda in combating climate change with a target of 15 billion trees by 2032, where schools are among the focal points in the implementation of tree planting and seedling propagation.
On his part, KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu commended the government for recruiting over 56,000 Teachers in less than one year.
He urged the Ministry of Education to start negotiations with the teacher employer TSC for intern teachers to be placed under permanent and pensionable terms.
“We are a professional body, and we know how to fight for the rights of our members without going to the streets to demonstrate,” said Oyuu.
The KNUT Secretary General said the capitation for schools must be revised upwards due to the increased cost of living.
Mr. Oyuu also asked the Government to consider introducing affirmative action in marginalized communities so that education can be managed uniformly across the country as teachers continue to shy away from arid and semi-arid areas.
By Hamdi Buthul
