The Ministry Of Education will spend over Sh33 million to put up 42 new classrooms in Garissa under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) infrastructure expansion for junior secondary.
Speaking when he presided the ground breaking ceremony at the County high school, Area County Commissioner, Boaz Cherutich, said that phase I of the project will see 26 classrooms constructed at a cost of Sh20 million.
Cherutich said that a total of 26 secondary schools across the county will benefit from the programme that will run for next three months.
The County Commissioner urged merchants who won the contracts not only to deliver the job on time, but ensure that they are done to the contract specifications. Each classroom will cost Sh788, 220 and the money will be paid directly into the contractors account on completion.
Meanwhile, Cherutich has said that the blame game between parents and teachers on who should take responsibility for the upsurge in the burning of schools countrywide will not help solve the problem.
Instead, he said both parents and teachers have a role to play in ensuring that discipline is restored in all learning institutions.
“This blame game on who is to take responsibility over the burning of schools should stop. Parents should take their parental roles when schools are closed and likewise teachers should take over when schools are opened,” Cherutich said.
“It’s time we all come together as stakeholders and address this problem that is threatening to disrupt learning in our schools. If we fail to contain it now, we should be ready to face these children when they drop out of school and turn into criminals in our midst,” he added.
The County Commissioner said that a stakeholders meeting slated for January next year that will bring together elected leaders, school management boards, head teachers and parents will not only seek to find the root cause of indiscipline in schools, but will also come up with ways and means of addressing them.
“The government is investing huge amounts of funds in the education sector by expanding the infrastructure. It will regrettable if the same are set ablaze by rowdy students who don’t value such efforts by government and the sacrifices made by their parents to better their lives,” he said.
The County Commissioner also urged parents to pay the school fees of their children on time to ensure the smooth running of learning institutions.
He said that some institutions have accrued huge bills and gave the example of County high school where parents owe the institution a staggering Sh56 million in outstanding fees for the past 10 years.
By Jacob Songok
