The government is committed to ensuring smooth transition from Grade 8 to 9 come January 2025, Deputy Chief of Staff Mr. Eliud Owalo has said.
According to Owalo, the government has finalised plans to construct an additional sixteen thousand classrooms in comprehensive schools across the country to accommodate learners who would be joining Grade 9 in January 2025.
“The government has put in place financial mechanisms that will facilitate the construction of the deficit of sixteen thousand classrooms across the country in readiness of students joining Grade 9 for January 2025,” Owalo said.
The DCS also said that the government intends to alleviate the teacher shortage by not only absorbing the 46 thousand intern teachers into permanent and pensionable terms but also hiring an additional 20 thousand teachers to meet the current shortage.
“We are aware that we have been having shortages of teachers, and that is why the government has decided to absorb the 46 thousand intern teachers through the Teachers Service Commission and also hire an additional 20 thousand teachers, which has already been advertised,” he said.
Owalo, who was speaking during the official handover of Kametho primary school in Rarieda subcounty, which was refurbished by the Safaricom Mpesa Foundation under the citizens of the future programme at a cost of Sh35 million, said the ICT facility at the school would equally benefit the youth through training and job creation.
“I urge the youth to utilise the ICT facility installed at the school to train during weekends because ICT is the frontier that will give us jobs as the government targets to train at least 300 youths in all wards across the country,” Owalo said.
He revealed that the government has elaborate plans to transform the country through development and asked the locals to brace themselves for electricity, water, security, roads, and additional market projects in the region that will spur economic growth.
The Deputy Chief of Staff commended the Safaricom Mpesa Foundation for the refurbishment of Kametho primary school, saying the school now has adequate and modern infrastructure, which was expected to ignite improvement of the school’s academic performance.
He challenged the local community and the local leaders to improve enrolment of pupils at the school, which currently stands at 250, and also work on modalities that would enhance academic performance.
Safaricom Mpesa Foundation Chairperson Joseph Ogutu, who graced the occasion, disclosed that under the citizens of the future programme, the foundation targets to refurbish 600 schools across the country and equip them with ICT hubs that will train the students to be digital natives.
Ogutu asked the local community and beneficiaries of Kametho primary school to ensure that they utilise the facility for intended purposes and also ensure pupils become digital natives as intended by the project.
“It is not enough to have excellent infrastructure. The project will only be relevant if performance improves and the aim of creating digital natives is achieved,” said Ogutu.
He commended the engineers working on the project for delivering the project on time and within the estimated budget, pointing out that the project reflected value for money.
The Safaricom Mpesa Foundation chair urged parents to be good stewards of the facility, which was expected to support learners for the next 100 years if properly taken care of.
Siaya County Commissioner Nobert Komora, who attended the event, said the institution has no excuse for performing dismally and asked teachers and parents to work together to deliver results for the school.
Safaricom Mpesa Foundation has supported the construction and refurbishment of facilities at Kametho and Oboch schools in Rarieda subcounty at a cost of Sh35 million each over the last one year.
By Brian Ondeng
