Parents in Sokoke ward, Kilifi County, have resorted to raise funds for local school to bridge the shortfall of resources from the capitation funds.
The parents have been holding Harambee funds drives to put up offices, classroom, and toilet renovations to improve infrastructure in public primary schools.
The challenges facing the schools have been a long-standing concern, with dilapidated classrooms, leaking roofs, and inadequate sanitation facilities posing significant challenges to both pupils and teachers.
For example, at Ziwani Primary School, one of the most affected schools in the area, parents were compelled to organize a fundraising ceremony and successfully raised over 400,000 shillings to complete a stalled classroom, repair the staffroom, and fix the leaking office of the headteacher, which had become uninhabitable.
During the ceremony, led by Kilifi County Assembly speaker Teddy Mwambire, who was the chief guest, it was highlighted that the government’s progress in renovating damaged school infrastructure is too slow, making learning very difficult during the rainy season while posing health risks.
Thus, Mwambire emphasized that parents cannot wait indefinitely for their children to have a conducive environment, so they will mobilize themselves to address some of the challenges while waiting for lasting solutions from the government.
“We have come together to collaborate with the parents of Ziwani Primary School to fundraise to renovate the infrastructure of this school because it is in a worse condition. We have waited from the ministry and explored different avenues such as constituency development funds, but there is a shortage and no funds have been allocated to this school”, he said.
For instance, during challenging economic times, the group aims to find alternative means to fundraise and renovate the school’s basic infrastructure instead of blaming and sacrificing. According to the area Member of County Assembly (MCA) Harrison Thaura, some schools face the risk of being closed down for not meeting sanitation standards.
He pointed out that the damaged buildings and poor toilets have adversely affected the well-being of pupils and teachers, exposing them to a harsh learning environment. “Yesterday, I met with Dida and Kahingoni Primary School heads, revealing poor condition of buildings, particularly Dida Primary School, causing fear of closure due to lack of toilets”, he said.
Thus, Thaura urged Kilifi County leaders to prioritize addressing the deteriorating state of public schools’ infrastructure to ensure a safe and conducive learning environment for both students and teachers.
Ziwani Primary School Board of Management chair Elvina Karisa disclosed that she has been reaching out to local leaders for intervention but opted to turn to parents for Harambee since there were no timely responses.
Lastly, as parents continue to mobilize to improve the learning environment for their children, they remain hopeful that the National and County governments will intervene and make systemic infrastructure improvements in public schools across Kilifi County.
By Jackson Msanzu
