Africa-Press – Kenya. Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has revealed that Nairobi County has insufficient classrooms for primary school learners.
Machogu said there are currently 4,651 classrooms in primary schools in Nairobi County, resulting in a deficit of 983 classrooms.
“Indeed, the infrastructure situation in Nairobi is concerning, particularly because it is also the capital city,” he said.
To address the situation, Machogu said the National Government will construct 3,500 additional classrooms in the County in the course of the next three years.
“However, this financial year, Sh1 billion has been provided to the 17 constituencies in Nairobi County for the construction of 1,000 classrooms,” Machogu said.
Machogu said each constituency has been allocated Sh58,823,529 in this Financial Year.
He said the funds will be availed gradually until the target of 3500 classrooms in Nairobi is achieved.
“My ministry is confident that the foregoing measures are adequate to ensure that all grade 9 students in public schools will be catered for in 2025, not just in Nairobi but for the rest of the country,” Machogu said.
The CS spoke on Thursday at the Kenya Institute for Special Education(KISE) in Nairobi when he graced the Inaugural Nairobi Education Conference.
The Conference, which has been organized by the Ministry of Education, Regional Director of Education Margaret Lesuuda in collaboration with other partners in the education sector, aims at identifying and discussing the challenges that hold back the realization of inclusive quality education in the region.
The inaugural Education conference was themed: Revitalizing quality education in Nairobi: make education work for children in Nairobi.
He also revealed that Nairobi doesn’t have enough public schools for its learners.
“Public schools constitute only 31 per cent of the schools in the County, with the other 69 per cent being private ones,” the CS said.
Though Machogu termed the high number of private schools as commendable, he noted that it threatens accessibility, inclusivity, affordability and quality of education.
“This is more so when the Government continues to provide capitation to all students in public schools and implement other countrywide programmes that promote inclusivity of education,” he said.
Machogu said among public schools in the city, there are 216 ECDE, 211 primary, 193 junior and 107 secondary schools.
He said private schools in those categories are 952, 780, 672 and 207 respectively.
The CS called on Governor Johnson Sakaja to map out any available public land that can be used for the construction of more public schools.
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