Nyandarua North Deputy County Commissioner Mr. Walter Ngaira has urged parents of the schools that would be affected by the ongoing crackdown of unregistered schools to seek placement in government institutions.
Ngaira who spoke after closure of Bridge International School in Mairoinya, Nyandarua County said assessment of schools would continue and schools that would not fit the standards of the Ministry of Education risked closure.
He however said that the closure of these schools would not affect the learning of the pupils as they had done consultations with the public schools around and students need to resume their learning from the schools of their choice.
The DCC, who was accompanied by Sub county education officials, regretted the filthy state of the school with structures that were not fit to accommodate the pupils noting that whoever approved the structures needed be taken to jail.
“The school has no windows or ventilations and in fact, they look like pig structures and not classrooms,” noted Ngaira adding that the unregistered school had 12 teachers with only 3 registered teachers by the Ministry of Education.
He also noted that the books which were used by the school were not approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and thus the institution would only be allowed to run after complying with all the requirements.
However, a hundred and thirty six pupils among them 15 KCPE candidates would have to spend the better part of the day looking for a school of their choice after the Commissioner noted that a roll call would start tomorrow morning to ascertain the number of pupils who would not have reported in other schools.
The officials, who are going round inspecting schools to ascertain their registration status and suitability, have exuded confidence in public schools in the area saying they were capable of accommodating the affected number of learners.
“We have until October 25, 2019 to assess the suitability of all our learning institutions and recommend accordingly to our ministry headquarters,” noted Nyandarua North Sub County Director of Education Mr. Justus Musyoka.
Musyoka, who refused to hint on other targeted schools to the media, added that the department was working closely with parents to ensure that learning in the schools is not interrupted in the remaining part of this term.
“We have about three weeks to the end of the term and we are however working closely with parents to ensure learning is not interrupted in the remaining three weeks,” he said.
Musyoka added that they were also required to re-assess for re-registration of schools that have changed their status and that had increased their enrollment in their respective regions.
A number of private primary schools in the region witnessed massive transfers two years ago as parents scrambled for spaces in Public Schools who were rolling out the Digital Learning Programme (DLP) with a number closing shop for lack of quorum.
By Anne Sabuni and David Njoroge
