Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof. George Magoha has revealed that 572 CBC classrooms have been completed and ready for commissioning.
Speaking after commissioning a completed CBC classroom at Aldina Visram Secondary School in Mombasa County, Magoha said out of 6,470 classrooms to be constructed in the first phase of the project, only 98 projects were pending.
He hailed the national government officers for excellent work in the implementation of the Presidential directive and encouraged them to continue with the same spirit to ensure the CBC classrooms project is completed within the stipulated timelines.
While directing immediate payments of the money owed to local contractors, the CS added that the government has prudently utilized the funds budgeted for the CBC classrooms project.
“We have reduced the price of each classroom, from Sh 1.26 million to Sh 788,000 including taxes and if we are at 56 per cent completion rate that tells you something. Kenya is not a poor country and we shall get value for our money. We should not be afraid, if it is done in the best interest of the citizen,” he added.
Magoha singled out Coast, North East, Nyanza and Eastern region’s ministries of education and Interior and national coordination officers of sterling performances in the implementation of CBC classrooms.
“I want to thank my officers in the field for great work. In terms of ranking, there are four regional directors of education whom I wish to name and that is not to say others are not working. May I continue to encourage ourselves to do our work,” he added.
On the national examinations, the CS said Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination is ready to be administered next month.
He assured candidates and parents that the government has placed elaborate measures to ensure registered candidates sit for the final primary school examinations without any hitches.
Magoha said he has directed Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to ensure candidates in far flung schools sit their examinations within their schools without relocating them to far examination centers.
“I want to assure remote counties not to worry. We have instructed KNEC to ensure that far flung school children will be allowed to sit examinations in their own interests. Nobody should allow children to trek 5 or 10 kilometers to sit for examinations,” he added.
Magoha further assured the country that the examinations will be administered without cases of irregularities, saying his ministry has secured the integrity and credibility of the examination papers printed in the United Kingdom.
He further added that the examination centers have been consolidated and security deployed to secure them and warned teachers against being syndicated in the examinations irregularities.
“The government has ensured that there is no leakage of examinations. The only integrity issue will be when some few teachers open the examination papers when removing them from containers. I don’t know what is on those papers,” added Magoha.
By Galgalo Bocha
