Nyamira County Commissioner Erastus Mbui has urged education stakeholders to seamlessly collaborate with school administrators to ensure learning for the second term of this academic year resumes well after postponement of opening for two weeks due to torrential rain.
He revealed to KNA that though the County’s terrain is hilly and located in the highlands of the western part of Kenya, infrastructure in some of the learning institutions in Nyamira County were adversely affected by the torrential flooding experienced in the country for the past one month.
“The enhanced rain which has caused immense flooding and cost people’s lives countrywide has not spared some of our learning institutions either. A whole tuition block at Kuura secondary school was brought down by the rains, while the roof of a tuition block for Nyakemincha secondary schools blown off by a heavy storm, and sanitation facilities for schools located in lowland areas were totally submerged in water posing a serious health hazard to those in affected institutions,” Commissioner Mbui noted.
He further pointed out most of the all-weather murram roads have been rendered impassable since run off water settled on the road or flowed right in the middle of the road downstream creating deep gullies which endangered users. This status has given riders and motorists transporting learners to and from schools a hard time navigating through the muddy and slippery roads.
“I want to appreciate the speedy emergency interventions taken by our County Members of Parliament (MPs) in reconstructing some of the damaged infrastructure in our schools courtesy of National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF) so that learning sessions can be done from safe and conducive spaces,” CC Mbui said.
He advised school administrators to readily assist and collaborate with other well-wishers willing to undertake Corporate Social Responsibility and assist schools affected by ravaging rains unconditionally because the needs of various schools were diverse and no single individual or institution could manage to solve all the needs alone.
Mbui said that they have sent comprehensive reports on schools affected by heavy storms and the extent of damage to the Ministry of Education so that they could equally support in the reconstruction of damaged facilities and requested parents to also rally on this mission in their small ways for the best interest of their learners.
“Teachers need to be on high alert and ensure that learners are safe while in school, shelter appropriately when it is raining and report any incident which requires immediate attention by the county disaster response and management teams to act swiftly in salvaging the situation,” the CC advised.
By Deborah Bochere
