NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 27 — President William Ruto has said the government will spend Sh1billion over a three-year period to build 3,500 classrooms in Nairobi County in a bid to ease congestion in schools.
Speaking while flagging off vehicles assigned to education officials at the Kenya Institute of Special needs Education (KISE) on Thursday, Ruto said Nairobi’s rapid growth has continued to be cause for concern given an influx of students who compete for limited resources.
“When I was MP I had about 130 schools, and that is for only one constituency, but in Nairobi about 200 schools in 17 sub-counties to serve a population of 4.5 million learners, there is something fundamentally wrong in the city of Nairobi, this is a big crisis,” Ruto said.
“It is the reason we will build 5,000 additional classrooms; I have a billion shillings for Nairobi to build 3,500 classrooms that the national government has committed to build. Too many children are not going to school due to lack of classrooms,” he stated.
Ruto announced that he will present a supplemental budget to the National Assembly within a week, including a Sh1bn pledge to the Nairobi County as part of the national government’s plan to construct 3,500 classes.
He asked the Nairobi County lawmakers to collaborate with the Ministry of Education in order develop a coordinated plan to guarantee the construction of the classrooms through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) rather than being procured centrally.
“Too many of our children in the informal settlement in Nairobi are not going to school due to lack of adequate classes in schools.”
“Let us work together because am going o make a provision of a billion shillings this year, next year and following year so that we can complete a construction of this classes,” he said.
“Sakaja has given me his undertaking that he will do 500 classes this year, also next year and the other year to complete the 1500 as the national government will complete the 3500 and the classes be done in three years.”
President Ruto also declared that the government has boosted funding for the school feeding program to Sh5 billion to retain more students in school.
“We increased from Sh1.5 billion to Sh5 billion and Parliament has approved. As the government we are targeting four million children,” he said.
Ruto was also optimistic about proposals made by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms, stating that they will be crucial to enhancing children’s access to equity in quality education.
“We are already implementing some of the report’s recommendations, and our lawmakers are deliberating on the proposals that require policy and legislative changes to unlock their full effect,” the President said.
