Infrastructure gaps in schools easy to seal

In his State of the Nation address of March 31, 2016, President Uhuru Kenyatta stated: “In 2015, over 925,000 pupils sat KCPE exam. This year, when we did the Form One selection, only 759,000 got places in public and private secondary schools. The rest, over 167,000 of our young boys and girls, are sitting at home idle and vulnerable to the lure of vices. It is my determination to reduce this gap to zero by 2017.

“I will engage with the National Assembly to ensure that, by 2017, we build 3,000 classrooms in secondary schools that are required to achieve a 100 per cent transition.”

At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Education directed secondary school boards of management to set aside Sh6,000 from the capitation of Sh22,000 per pupil for the development of infrastructure in schools.

This month, Education Cabinet secretary George Magoha was quoted as having allowed BoMs of secondary schools to raise user charges as per their needs, subject to approval by parents.

And there are reports that the ministry has set aside Sh8.2 billion for infrastructure in secondary schools to accommodate the 100 per cent transition of students from primary to secondary schools.

To me, the President’s promise to engage the National Assembly was recognition of the constituency as the unit of development. But it seems the ministry would rather hold onto the funds than have the National Treasury fund the schools through the constituencies.

Besides the identification of schools to benefit from such direct funding being suspect, it is also an indication that the government has not made up its mind on the funding strategy.

Since between 2023 and 2028 secondary schools will need to expand exponentially to absorb the 2023 and 2024 double intake and the six-year secondary school cycle brought about by the Competency-Based Curriculum, a concrete 10-year plan on this matter is critical.

Furthermore, it is easier to challenge MPs to ensure that secondary schools in their constituency have the capacity to absorb all the pupils. The 167,000 students who missed out on Form One places in 2016 needed only 3,712 classrooms to join secondary school — if each accommodates 45 students.

Had each one of the 290 MPs been challenged then to build just 13 classrooms, the required 3,712, preferably in existing schools, would have been realised, hence achieving 100 per cent transition by 2017.

Besides, at a unit cost of Sh1 million, the Sh8.2 billion can build 8,200 classrooms — or 28 per constituency. Add to this the regular Constituency Development Fund allocation to schools and the 100 per cent transition dream becomes possible almost immediately.

This is against the 2018 gross enrolment rate 70 per cent and net enrolment rate of 53.2 per cent, according to provisional economic survey findings in the ministry’s 2018-2022 strategic plan.

Finally, the ministry should provide school fees guidelines for successive years by May to enable BoMs to consult parents about it before August as the latter are not allowed in schools in the third term. That will give ample time for planning before the January school reopening.