Construction of 435 classrooms in selected 324 out 390 schools in Makueni county under the first phase of Curriculum (CBC) infrastructure development programme has commenced.
The County Commissioner Maalim Mohammed said the classrooms are expected to be ready by March in preparation for junior secondary school intake scheduled for 2023.
Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony at St. Mary Ndovea sec school in Nzaui Sub County, Mohammed urged the contractors to deliver quality work on time.
“As we prepare for junior secondary school in 2023, I urged the contractors constructing the classrooms to deliver quality work on time in order to be considered by the government in the next projects,” he said.
Consequently, the county Commissioner called upon the Schools Board of Management and the area chiefs to supervise the construction of classrooms in their areas of jurisdiction.
At the same time, the County Development Implementation Coordination Committee (CDICC) will be closely monitoring all the schools to ensure that classrooms are delivered on time, according to the initial plans.
“We are happy as the County and sub county Development Implementation Coordination Committees that we are done with the process and we are going to hand over the construction sites in the county to the contractors who will monitor the progress of the construction,” he added.
Mohammed reiterated that this initiative was in line with the President’s commitment on successful implementation of CBC and equally promoting local contractors through an economic stimulus program.
Meanwhile, the county commissioner has appealed to the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) to complement government’s effort by putting up more classrooms in both primary and secondary schools for the benefit of their respective students.
“I specifically urge NG-CDF to support the government in its quest to construct adequate CBC classrooms,” added Mohammed.
In the ongoing CBC infrastructural development programme, Kibwezi sub county will benefit from 78 classrooms that will be constructed in 58 schools, Makueni 62 classes in 43 schools, Nzaui 55 classrooms in 43 schools, Mukaa 47 classrooms in 34 schools, Mbooni west 46 classrooms in 32 schools, Mbooni East 40 classrooms in 33 schools, Kilungu 34 classrooms in 22 schools, Kathonzweni 40 classrooms in 32 schools, while 33 classrooms will be constructed in 27 schools in Makindu.
Over 80% of schools in the county benefited from the programme, with each class earmarked cost an average of Sh788,220.
By Ronald Rono
