Tharaka Nithi County has launched the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) Infrastructure Development Programme that is not only expected to cater for pupils transiting to junior secondary school in 2023, but also stimulate economic growth through utilization of locally available skills and resources.
Presiding over the launch at the Chuka/Igambang’ombe CDF boardroom in Chuka town, the County Commissioner Beverly Opwora said whereas competence in the construction of the classrooms should not be compromised, the contracts should be focused on stimulation of the economy from the grassroots.
“Let the youth be encouraged to utilize available facilities such as Uwezo Fund to come up with joint ventures to enable them raise the resources required to be awarded contracts. This way the programme will empower them and ensure the money trickles to the grassroots,” she said.
Opwora also disclosed that membership of the County and Sub-Counties Development Implementation Committees should include other government departments as need arises in the implementation process.
“Our past experience in the school desks programme exposed us to how crucial other government agencies such as NEMA, the Kenya Forest Service and County Treasuries in this Multi-Agency Technical Committee operation to hasten the implementation process,” said Opwora.
Elaborating on the modalities of the programme, the County Director of Education (CDE), Bridget Wambua, disclosed that Tharaka Nithi has benefited from 170 classrooms distributed among 128 secondary schools in the area.
“We should appreciate that out of 11,600 classrooms for the whole country, we have been awarded 170 classrooms to be constructed at a cost of Sh788, 000 each. They are amicably distributed in the five sub-counties to ensure that no part of the county is disadvantaged,” she said.
Others present at the meeting were Sub-County Deputy County Commissioners and Sub-County Directors of Education who were tasked with constituting the Sub-County Development Implementation Coordination Committees and ensure the initial stage of identifying locally based competent and registered contactors is complete by Friday November, 12, 2021.
They were also required to submit timely reports to the County Development Implementation and Coordination Committee (CDICC), highlighting the progress made and challenges being faced to enable them compile reports to the regional level and ultimately the National Command Centre, within the given timelines.
By David Mutwiri
