Three schools that have been in dilapidated state for years are among 46 public primary schools in Thika constituency to receive a facelift at a cost of about Sh.10 million to improve pupils’ learning environment.
The schools, among the highly populous in the constituency and that were started over 30 years ago were dilapidated and insecure for learners.
The Kenyatta and Kamenu primary schools in the populous Makongeni estates in Thika West Sub County and Ngoliba primary school, among the most populous in Thika East Sub County had broken windowpanes, cracked floors and walls, wooden doors and lacked proper sanitation before the exercise.
The facelift entailed fixing metallic doors, windowpanes, plastering and cementing the floors, fencing, renovating toilets and kitchen and roofing. Flowers have also been planted on the compound.
Kenyatta Primary school has 1, 500 pupils and received Sh.3million for the facelift while Kamenu has a population of 1,800 and got Sh. 4million for phase one renovations from the area National Government Constituency Development Fund.
Speaking during a monitoring exercise of the projects, the Thika MP, Patrick Wainaina said they chose to do the renovations during this time when the learners are home due to Covid-19 to reduce disruptions in learning.
Wainaina said the classes have been in a poor state for years and giving them some facelift would motivate learners to perform well.
He said the NGCDF has already done facelifts to 45 schools out of the 56 public schools in the constituency, adding that the exercise will continue until all schools get a facelift.
“Our goal is to have our public schools get to the level of academies and already, we have had pupils transfer from some academies to our government schools due to infrastructural development. We also expect an improvement in performance in national examinations,” said Wainaina.
He said they were also in the process of distributing a full package revision papers to all the 15,000 candidates in the constituency to prepare them for the national exams.
On the proposals to reopen schools, the MP called on the government to monitor the number of daily infections before making any decision.
Teachers and parents welcomed the facelift exercise, saying it would not only motivate learners but also improve security and hygiene in the schools.
“Sometimes strangers from these high risk estates would trespass the school compound and learners would scamper for safety. Again, we would fear leaving our property behind, since thugs might easily break into the school,” said Mary Kamau, Kenyatta Primary School Deputy head teacher.
By Muoki Charles
