Congestion Crisis As Form Ones Set to Report On August

Ongoing construction of a storey building in a secondary school
Ongoing construction of a storey building at a secondary school
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With form ones set to join secondary schools on August 2, principals have less than a month to put up extra classrooms, dormitories and school furniture to cope with the surge in admissions as the government pushed for a 100 percent transition.

Apart from1,171,265 officially allocated learners, thousands of parents have placed transfer requests in favour of some schools that have a history of performing well in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations. The situation has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, which requires learners to observe social distancing.

β€œ The allocation of students per school is proportional to the capacity and streams of the school and this is not the first time the government is enforcing the 100 percent transition policy,” stated Mr Kennedy Buhere of the Ministry of Education.

A form one being assisted during the admission process in school.
A form one being assisted during the admission process in school.
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The majority of learners will join public schools as private secondary schools have a capacity of 70,000 only. While the principals work to create extra space, it will create another problem- the need to employ more teachers.

According to Kakamega school principal Mr Gerald Orina, his school has a shortage of 96 teachers, which will impact curriculum delivery due to the over-stretched lessons.

At Chavakali High school, the funds from the government are being used to put up a dormitory that will house about 470 form ones. The principal, Mr John Kuria said they will complete the ground floor first so as to cope with the new admissions. The school currently has a shortage of 26 teachers.

Boarding schools are expected to be hit the worst as 547,251 students have been admitted to national, extra-county and county schools, all of which are boarding. However, the remaining majority will attend sub-county (day schools).

While the government has allocated funds through the Maintenance and Empowerment Fund, some teachers complained that it is inadequate while others cited complications with the requirement that utilisation of the fund is approved by directors of education and the ministry.

Authorization to spend is supposed to be sought from the ministry, with most headteachers now complaining that β€œthe process is tedious, full of corruption traps and serving to aggravate the problem than it is solving it”

Some also alleged that they had been asked to inflate the cost of projects so as to spare kickbacks for the officials.

Forms ones lining up during the school's admission process
Forms ones lining up during the school's admission process
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