Nipate
Forum => Kenya Discussion => Topic started by: Omollo on February 03, 2017, 10:15:06 PM
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This shocking especially when written by The Ethnic Rag (http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Teachers-AND-LEARNING-IN-SCHOOLS/1056-3798962-l171mvz/index.html)
Where are the priorities? Most of the schools have never seen the laptops
Experts blame meagre funds allocation for sorry state of schools
The sorry state of public schools across the country can be revealed today.
A survey conducted by the Saturday Nation presents a picture of decay, disuse and neglect in the schools.
Pupils learn under difficult conditions while teachers struggle to create order where chaos reigns.
From Busia in the west to Kilifi at the Coast and Mandera in the North, the picture of infrastructure in public schools is shocking.
In a week long survey, we established a pervading sense of decay.
In many areas it is a case of absence of infrastructure as children sit on the floor, or stones and logs.
Related Content
Schools in Mombasa, Tana counties where pupils learn under trees
Open sewers, dumpsites in schools, crumbling ceilings, cracked walls and potholed floors, characterise the conditions under which many children in public schools learn.
In one case at Muthurwa Primary School in Nairobi, used nylon bags, diapers and other refuse litter a section of the playground while at Roysambu Primary School in Nairobi, street children are self-styled guards.
Puddles of a mixture of urine and water are what welcome one to a neighbouring school further down the road.
In Witu Division of Lamu County, pupils in five public primary schools learn while sitting on the floor and some on rocks.
NO ACTION TAKEN
For Kakathe, Maisha Masha, Maleli, Katsaka Kairu and Moa primary schools, pupils sit on the floor and place books on their laps when they are writing. They have no desks.
Kakathe Primary School Headteacher Juma Bakari said: “Our pupils learn in mud-walled classrooms. There are no desks and stationery; the pupils sit on the floor.”
He added: “The classrooms are few and many pupils learn under trees. At times teachers combine two or more classes and teach them in one classroom. That’s confusing and also draining for the teachers.”
At the Roysambu School in Nairobi, a stinky canal drains sewage into the school compound.
An official at the school said the waste water is discharged from several neighbouring buildings.
The Nation team saw a series of pipes directed into the canal leading into the school compound.
It was lunch time and pupils sat on smelly mounds of soil under the trees as they ate their lunch in the horrifying sight.
Discarded medicines, broken glass, razors and other dangerous elements are strewn all over the compound.
“When it is raining, the sewage covers almost half of the playground,” explained an official who refused to give his name for fear of reprisal from bosses at the Nairobi County Government.
She said many officials including those from National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and an engineer from the county government had visited the school and pledged action, but nothing had been done.
At Mathare North Primary School, a mixture of pungent smell assails the nostrils.
The school is surrounded by a dumpsite on one side, while it is fenced in by a major drainage tunnel, where the pupils stop over to play after classes.
At the school, in a detached toilet, girls elbow each other to drink from a tap.
This particular toilet is cleaner than the blocks we visited, but they are an eyesore.
FLOODING
There is no water to flush the toilets in most of the schools.
And though some of the schools have made effort to put water tanks, such cases are few and far apart.
At Muthurwa Primary School, the foul mixture oozes out into the compound below where pupils play happily.
In these public schools children are trying to learn while breathing in dusty crowded classroom.
The water in the swimming pools at two schools we visited that have the facility is green.
]It is blooming with algae and is unsafe to swim in and may be a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects.
Although vacated, a pupil at Muthaiga Primary confessed that though they had not gone swimming this week, the bigger boys especially in Standard Seven and Eight sneak in through the fence and swim in the water.
At Kimathi Primary School, a pool attendant told us mischievously the pool water is green “because of the rain from the other day”.
Security in some of the schools like Muthurwa and Mathare North has been left to chance.
The schools do not have proper fences so they are unsecure and pose serious threats to children’s safety.
When we visited Muthurwa Primary School, the compound was flooded due to poor drainage.
Getting to the classrooms and headteacher’s office was a nightmare.
Sometimes, we were told, the flooding is worse, destroying books, desks and the classroom floors.
In a school where five pupils share one book, losing them to floods amounts to adding salt to injury.
NOISY ENVIRONMENT
The school is situated between the busy Jogoo Road, Gikomba market and Majengo slums.
Lack of a perimeter wall has led to thugs breaking in and stealing books and school items. Students also sell books to hawkers right at the gate.
At night, street families move in. They sleep in the school compound and during school holidays, they live there permanently.
“We need a perimeter wall, those hawkers outside the gate should be removed and that place cleared. And since the school is located at a somewhat low level, when it rains all the water from Muthurwa come here. They should work on the drainage,” said Mrs Jane Mwaura, the headteacher.
She added that when something is happening in the market, they can hear all of it.
During campaign periods like now, the distractions are too much.
In the other side of the city, Kibera slums, we visited Kibera Junior School, which has no field for games.
The neighbouring Olympic Primary School has 4,035 pupils with almost all classrooms catering for 100 pupils each.
Mrs Nyakundi Josephine, the deputy headteacher, said the school is congested. It needs more classes, more furniture and a computer lab.
“We also need more teachers to handle the large numbers; currently, we have only 42. We also need more toilets,” she said.
Confronted with this picture on Friday, Education PS, Dr Belio Kipsang, said the government has a continuous fund for improvement of primary and secondary schools.
Last year, he said, the ministry allocated Sh700 million for school infrastructure and expected that should have helped schools to put up decent classrooms and ablution blocks.
The sorry situation of schools in Nairobi was aptly captured in a report of a taskforce on the improvement of performance of public primary schools in the city, which had been set by Governor Evans Kidero.
SCARCITY OF MONEY
It was presented to Dr Kidero in July 2014, but when a Saturday Nation team visited the schools this week, the situation was more or less the same.
It means, the recommendations of the taskforce have not been implemented.
The taskforce report attributes this sorry state of affairs to the cancellation of capital funding to schools that started in late 1980s.
Also, the report faults the then City Council for failing to allocate resources to schools despite collective revenues from residents.
“The schools were designed according to required standards.
"However, things went wrong from the late 1980s when not only did development of new schools stall, but maintaining of existing ones also stopped.
"The schools quickly degenerated into a state of disrepair and decrepitude that continues to this today,” reads part of the report.
Education experts decried the meagre allocations for school repairs, maintenance and improvements under the Free Primary Education programme, currently set at Sh127 per child, which they say is inadequate to maintain school infrastructure.
It also not lost that part of the billions of shillings channelled to the grassroots through constituency fund that should have been used to rehabilitate and expand schools has not been used for that purpose.
Mr Wesaya Maina, the country director at Discovery Alliance, an education NGO, said the sorry state of the public school infrastructure is also an indictment of the Ministry of Education Quality Assurance and Standards Division, which he said had all but collapsed.
“While we can argue over the availability or otherwise of infrastructure funds, there is clearly no reason why schools are not inspected regularly,” said Mr Maina.
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(http://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/3798986/highRes/1554561/-/maxw/600/-/p85lc3z/-/rotpic.jpg)
Class Four pupils in Misufini Primary School pay attention during class time on February 2, 2017. The school is among hundreds of other public schools in the county with poor infrastructure.
(http://www.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/3798992/medRes/1554568/-/5a7hl3/-/rot1.jpg)
Class Seven pupils in Misufini Primary School listen to their teacher on February 2, 2017. It has dilapidated facilities.
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These are the future leaders, and counties whould be required to build schools like crazy instead of buying SUVs
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Our grandparents and some of our great-grandparents went to school in better conditions than these. Where do they plug in the laptops?
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Some of the MPs through CDF have concentrated on the refurbishment of the schools. Even the Roysambu MP is refurbishing some of the schools.
Kidero is also on some complex at Marurui
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2016/05/21/sh129-million-education-complex-under-construction-in-roysambu-to-have_c1354237
Am sure with little innovativeness and cheap Chinese technologies we can easily improve most of the public physical facilities. They are in bad shape generally. Offices, schools from ECD to university. Having highrise schools would easily increase the capacity of most public facilities and make more efficient use of the scarce public land.
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I am not sure CDF funds being used on Public schools or building DCs offices is proper use of those resources.
This picture can explain:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4DMrS4UcAAEbo9.jpg)
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where are the freaking parents.. they cannot be this lazy and irresponsible that they cannot make desks for these kids. when I was in primary school parents paid a small fee about a dollar every term from facilities. We had the best facilities around because our headmaster was a very honest man and used the money well. We held fundraisers and built very good classrooms.
Parents and community ought to be ashamed for state the school is in.. GOK spends money on tuition not facilities
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where are the freaking parents.. they cannot be this lazy and irresponsible that they cannot make desks for these kids. when I was in primary school parents paid a small fee about a dollar every term from facilities. We had the best facilities around because our headmaster was a very honest man and used the money well. We held fundraisers and built very good classrooms.
Parents and community ought to be ashamed for state the school is in.. GOK spends money on tuition not facilities
I could make that argument if education is devolved. I am not sure it is. It could also be argued that desks, among many other things like wholesome nutrition, should enjoy priority over laptops - but you will find people forcefully arguing for the exact opposite.
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where are the freaking parents.. they cannot be this lazy and irresponsible that they cannot make desks for these kids. when I was in primary school parents paid a small fee about a dollar every term from facilities. We had the best facilities around because our headmaster was a very honest man and used the money well. We held fundraisers and built very good classrooms.
Parents and community ought to be ashamed for state the school is in.. GOK spends money on tuition not facilities
I could make that argument if education is devolved. I am not sure it is. It could also be argued that desks, among many other things like wholesome nutrition, should enjoy priority over laptops - but you will find people forcefully arguing for the exact opposite.
let us be honest there is no budget for this kind of things without levying more taxes to an already overtaxed populace.. The way to do this is to go back to basics reintroduce building fund that will be catered by the whole community. Also, getting more middle class parents to move their kids back public schools will help. Right now public schools are left for the poor. As matter of fact most rural public schools in central do not have enough kids to justify their continued existence.
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Upside priorities.
(https://scontent-syd2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16473882_10154348803272473_5104630436029514050_n.jpg?oh=952958288e3fa05cab802801adc554d3&oe=593CAD5F)
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You seem to have no knwolege of the level of povery in Kenya. Most paretns cant even afford uniform while governors are busy buying SUVs instead of investing heavily in public institutions. Poeople are poorer than 1970, 1980s, 1990, and going on. A few that have it really have it good, the rest are very poor. My friend there are more kids dropping out after primary because [arents cant affor secondary school than any time in history and its getting worse.
where are the freaking parents.. they cannot be this lazy and irresponsible that they cannot make desks for these kids. when I was in primary school parents paid a small fee about a dollar every term from facilities. We had the best facilities around because our headmaster was a very honest man and used the money well. We held fundraisers and built very good classrooms.
Parents and community ought to be ashamed for state the school is in.. GOK spends money on tuition not facilities
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so who is to blame for Poverty? Is Uhuru or the "government" to blame for poverty? Kenya poverty is legendary. In Nairobi the capital City 2/3 of residents are dirt poor and can barely afford food. The rural areas are no exception. my point is that there no funds to build better school even if we diverted all payroll of current politicians to education we would still not meet the need. the only hope for Kenya more discovery of oil fields and hopefully better utilization of these funds to spur economic growth.
Kids are sitting on the floor because the taxpayer is dirt poor and has no ability to pay more taxes to allow gok to fund better facilities.. In my early days in school we had no urinals and peed in a shed that we all had to put ash from home to soak urine.. As most of the villagers in my area economic situation improved due to better tea prices the school levied more building fund fees and a proper urinal was constructed..
So blame poverty in areas like this and not government misplaced tablets
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so who is to blame for Poverty? Is Uhuru or the "government" to blame for poverty? Kenya poverty is legendary. In Nairobi the capital City 2/3 of residents are dirt poor and can barely afford food. The rural areas are no exception. my point is that there no funds to build better school even if we diverted all payroll of current politicians to education we would still not meet the need. the only hope for Kenya more discovery of oil fields and hopefully better utilization of these funds to spur economic growth.
Kids are sitting on the floor because the taxpayer is dirt poor and has no ability to pay more taxes to allow gok to fund better facilities.. In my early days in school we had no urinals and peed in a shed that we all had to put ash from home to soak urine.. As most of the villagers in my area economic situation improved due to better tea prices the school levied more building fund fees and a proper urinal was constructed..
So blame poverty in areas like this and not government misplaced tablets
Can the government better utilize the money it has right now? Are laptops a real priority? The government brought a lot of energy to the laptops thing. Could it have brought and can it still bring the same energy to providing classrooms and desks for all? (Many schools already have these things anyway, so it would not be the laptops business.) That photo up there summarizes a type of "national idiocy" that can be found only in a place like Kenya. And it gives one a pretty good idea of where we will be 50 years from now (if there is no dramatic change).
Not having money is one thing; wasting even the little one has is quite another. To anyone who says "not enough money", I say take a look at the auditor-general's report for any year and see how much is stolen or simply wasted. There's the money. And even when money is given for "free" by others, what happens? How much "free education" money from "donors" simply got eaten? All the money that gets eaten in corruption scandal after corruption scandal ... what could it do for schools?
And saying that 2/3 of Nairobians can barely afford food because they are poor misses a fundamental point. If a country is producing food as it should, then, because of the quantities available, food becomes easily affordable even for those at the bottom of the scale. On a national scale that is a government's responsibility, and to see what happens when that responsibility is taken seriously, one need only look at parts of Asia that have made very rapid progress in the last 50 years. In Kenya, people starve with every drought because some just see it as a matter of poverty. (Pundit will happily tell you how MPESA is "helping" them.)
Kenyans need to get past this idea that they are poor, so therefore, and just wait for some lucky strike. First make good use of the little you have and then cry poverty. And when I say "make good use of", I mean the government making good use of what the taxpayer is coughing up. That is especially critical because, as you put it, "the taxpayer is dirt poor and has no ability to pay more taxes".
Parkepen's point is the people have already paid taxes, and they should get some value out of it; so it is not fair to state, as you do, that "they cannot be this lazy and irresponsible that they cannot make desks for these kids". That is actually bizarre when you then go on to add that they are too poor to contribute any more.
Finally: In blithely asking "so who is to blame for Poverty? Is Uhuru or the "government" to blame for poverty?" you have missed an especially fundamental point. Nations that lift themselves out of poverty do not manage it because they are full of individuals manfully labouring to pull themselves up by their boot-strings. And even in the most "advanced" countries today, the state of the economy, and how that is reflected in individual well-being, is especially important to the average citizen. A government has a huge---an possibly the hugest---role to play in that, and any government that is not doing what it should be doing may be blamed. Even striking it rich in natural resources will not make much of a difference if the newly riches are simply blown or stolen. So, quite apart from the issue above, here is a better question for you to ask: "What are Uhuru (as president) and his government doing about poverty in Kenya?". (No, kularing nyama by a few doesn't count.)
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The little money there is in education has been 95% used well to pay for teachers, buy books and other supplies.. What is the total of money per auditor general that has been misused that was supposed to go to education? I do not want to discuss corruption in other dockets as that money being stolen there was already allocated for other things than education. I say it is responsibility of a parent to ensure that his or her child are adequately catered for in school. A little effort by locals where this schools are can help "build" desks for these kids.. you do not need that much to build a "FORM" that kids can sit on
There was a certain maverick headmaster in my village:
He asked parents to ensure that kids wear shoes when coming to school. parents scoffed at the idea and said they could not afford shoes. So one morning he sent every kid without shoes on home. So parents were mad and asked for a meeting, he agreed for a meeting. When all them showed up they had shoes on and so he asked how the afforded those because he knows they have several pairs.. There was no argument and most parents realized how selfish of them wearing shoes while their young kids walked barefoot to school and so the culture of shoes as a basic right for kid was born in my village.
I bet you some of the kids sitting on the floor have sofas at home.
sometimes poverty can be excuse. we need to go back to community Self Help mantra
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The little money there is in education has been 95% used well to pay for teachers, buy books and other supplies.. What is the total of money per auditor general that has been misused that was supposed to go to education? I do not want to discuss corruption in other dockets as that money being stolen there was already allocated for other things than education. I say it is responsibility of a parent to ensure that his or her child are adequately catered for in school. A little effort by locals where this schools are can help "build" desks for these kids.. you do not need that much to build a "FORM" that kids can sit on
You should think of the entire budget instead of merely what is nominally allocated to education. The reason for that is obvious: there is only so much money, and money that is being wasted or stolen elsewhere could be put to better use in education and elsewhere. The larger point is that money is being stolen and wasted all over the place, and in such circumstances it makes little sense to insist that it is all a matter of the government not having enough tax-payer money. Even with the budget of an individual household, one never says "it's OK to waste money here and not worry about expenditures elsewhere because of this and that allocation". Think of the national budget as the budget for the "national household", and you will get a better picture, which you can then improve by reflecting on "supplementary" budgets.
It's not as though the the various allocations are handed down in stone, and so theft and waste in one place must not be connected to the supposed lack of money elsewhere. But if, for a moment, we accept your view, what say you on theft and waste in the education vote?
You have stated that
the only hope for Kenya more discovery of oil fields
Part of that "larger point" is that this will not help in the present culture of theft and waste. Kenya, without oil, is already giving Nigeria some stiff competition in the Corruption Stakes, and one hates to imagine what it would be like when oils starts to seriously flow. I hope that this oil thing doesn't get going until there's a more responsible government in place.
I say it is responsibility of a parent to ensure that his or her child are adequately catered for in school.
You certainly have some unusual views. In most places---and even in Kenya, I think---most people see basic education as one of the things that the government is obliged to provide, and that includes all that involved, beyond just teachers and books. Providing walls, roofs, desks, etc. should not be responsibility of parents. It is particularly important in a place like Kenya for the government to ensure that school-children have the proper sort of educational experience (and that includes "environmental" factors). In any case, if, as you claim, it does not take much to provide "desk"/"form", then why isn't the government doing it?
Beyond what you think is the responsibility of a parent and what I might think, what does the Kenyan Ministry of Education itself say on what the government should provide? Is the government providing it? If so, to what extent; if not why not?
I bet you some of the kids sitting on the floor have sofas at home.
Sorry, I don't get it. What does that have to do with the government's obligations to provide a proper environment for public education? Should our expectations of the government be limited to what we can provide for ourselves as individuals? If so, why bother with having a government at all?
Take the statement you have just put forth, on the situation depicted in that photo doesn't matter, and extend it to other aspects of life.
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The ministry of education provides free tuition and on top of that even provides books. Since independence the responsibility of providing facilities for learning has been left to parents. The only radical idea i have seen concerning this for GOK/ministry of education to layoff teachers in areas like nairobi and central where we have more teachers than needed and redeploy these funds.
How Much of the budget is stolen? is it 5% or 70%..give me a number since you have had the chance to read Ouko's manifesto..
Bottomline to build facilities GOK will have to levy more taxes. Right now kenyan budget has no money to build school facilities
on Oil I believe kenya will do better than Nigeria
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Since independence the responsibility of providing facilities for learning has been left to parents.
Really? That's news to me. I went to school---in all sorts of places---in Kenya, and that was never the impression I got. I'm certainly glad and fortunate that independence (and said responsibility) came later!
If things today are as you say, then right there is a very basic problem: The responsibility for providing all that is required for the free and public education that is mandated in the constitution lies with the government. That's what I think. And such obligations extend to other things---health, security, etc---and are, quite properly separate from what people "have at home". That's what I think.
But your views are very interesting, and if you are right, then it's a message that really needs to get out there.
How Much of the budget is stolen? is it 5% or 70%..give me a number since you have had the chance to read Ouko's manifesto..
Why not take a look at the reports and get the facts before you insist that:
Bottomline to build facilities GOK will have to levy more taxes. Right now kenyan budget has no money to build school facilities
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which schools have you been too that were not built by Missionaries (later taken over by GOK) or community?
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which schools have you been too that were not built by Missionaries (later taken over by GOK) or community?
The local school in my village.
But what is your point? That things that "were not built by Missionaries (later taken over by GOK) or community" remain the sole responsibility of the citizens? That would be a bit problematic, given that much of what "modern Kenya" is based on was built by others (colonial wazungus) and later taken over by GoK. What you need to focus on: the responsibilities of the government today, as stated in the constitution and in GoK's own policy papers and plans. A government has obligations to its citizens, and those obligations are not discharged even if the citizens decide to (because they feel they have to) fend for themselves or others (NGOs today in place of missionaries) take up the work. It is true that government in Kenya is mostly about stealing and eating meat, but that should not be the norm; and I'd like to believe that Kenyans have more "productive" expectations to go with their taxes.
Going back a little bit, there is an even more basic point that you still apparently cannot see. Take another look at that photo up there. See the laptops that the Jubilee government has been so proud of and is spending a lot of money on? Excellent. Now, take a look at the whole picture. Don't rush it; take your time. Small, small. Easy, easy. Eventually, you will see the whole picture.
And while you are staring at the picture, try to select one line that you will stick to: Either the people are so poor that they cannot do anything or add anything more to government coffers, or they are "[so] lazy and irresponsible that they cannot make desks for these kids".
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who is this Government? Is it an abstract entity that 'can provide free education".. The constitution calls from free education and universal whatever but talk is cheap (the letter of katiba). However, reality is that we have 65% of Kenyans who have no ability to pay taxes to so that this "government" can provide free education. These 65% however can use other means such as fund raising, offering free labour to build facilities in schools.. So mine is a call to these "poor" parents to stop sitting on their behinds waiting for ministry of education to provide desks but to innovate a way of making desks using locally available material. with 3K I can make these kids desks and by mobilizing the community.
So your pipe dream of free education with nice facilities it is that a dream that our Katiba envisions for the future but we must deal with our present problems here and now.
Also, there is a need for ministry of education to make efforts to bring middle class and rich back to public school so that at least there is enough diversity to offer leadership in matters like this
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Most schools' infrastructure have been built through harambees by mwananchi.
The school management then were more honest and had inherited the missionary spirit/philosophy towards education thus the boom especially in the 80-90s. That Moi also shared this spirit/philosophy helped a lot.
With the new batch of the school heads - mostly YK 92 and hungry BOGs, the school harambees and development funds are a personal pocket money. The national pysche of pesa ni ya serikali sio ya mamako has contributed to current state of public infrastructure.
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Though I don't advocate for poor school infrastructure, its important to note that one of the best run private school institution with 405 schools countrywide http://www.bridgeinternationalacademies.com/countries/kenya/ invest more on teachers and students than infrastructure. All their schools are mabati built mostly in low income areas, yet the schools are performing well. CDF money should be used for such things as building schools.
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Agreed, but there should be a priority. Why cant a governors house be built of mabati just like these schools. Drive a cheaper car rather thn a 10 million shilling car.
Though I don't advocate for poor school infrastructure, its important to note that one of the best run private school institution with 405 schools countrywide http://www.bridgeinternationalacademies.com/countries/kenya/ invest more on teachers and students than infrastructure. All their schools are mabati built mostly in low income areas, yet the schools are performing well. CDF money should be used for such things as building schools.
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Most schools' infrastructure have been built through harambees by mwananchi.
The school management then were more honest and had inherited the missionary spirit/philosophy towards education thus the boom especially in the 80-90s. That Moi also shared this spirit/philosophy helped a lot.
With the new batch of the school heads - mostly YK 92 and hungry BOGs, the school harambees and development funds are a personal pocket money. The national pysche of pesa ni ya serikali sio ya mamako has contributed to current state of public infrastructure.
There is a history of schools going down the tubes when the mzungu founder hands over to the first melanin endowed manager. Fact.
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Agreed, but there should be a priority. Why cant a governors house be built of mabati just like these schools. Drive a cheaper car rather thn a 10 million shilling car.
Though I don't advocate for poor school infrastructure, its important to note that one of the best run private school institution with 405 schools countrywide http://www.bridgeinternationalacademies.com/countries/kenya/ invest more on teachers and students than infrastructure. All their schools are mabati built mostly in low income areas, yet the schools are performing well. CDF money should be used for such things as building schools.
Yabut education is not devolved.
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who is this Government? Is it an abstract entity that 'can provide free education"..
That's a tough one. What is the Government in any country? The abstract entity that people pay taxes to and expect services in return? Or it could be the other entity that people think of at elections. In Kenya, it could be the people who said we will kula nyama while you others salivate. I don't know. But I have heard of a Government of Kenya; and I have heard talk of free education from said government; and I know that "donors" have given said government money for free education, which money then got eaten; and .... But enough of these abstract entities.
So mine is a call to these "poor" parents to stop sitting on their behinds waiting for ministry of education to provide desks but to innovate a way of making desks using locally available material. with 3K I can make these kids desks and by mobilizing the community.
What if some of those "poor" parents really are poor? What if even your 3K is tough for them? Here's a thought for you and your chance to win the award for Kenyan 21st Century Hero: instead of these unfruitful exchanges on nipate,org, go out there and "with 3K ... make these kids desks and by mobilizing the community". And while at it, tell them to get off their behinds ... I was going to write "fat behinds", but given the urgent appeals elsewhere to "donors", ...
So your pipe dream of free education with nice facilities it is that a dream that our Katiba envisions for the future but we must deal with our present problems here and now.
My "pipe dream" is that they should have certain basics before tablets and laptops and electricity. I don't know about you, but I think a place to sit, a desk, clean water, a toilet, etc.---"present problems here and now"---are more important but actually less "nice" than the fancy gadgets. Instead of just jumping up and down randomly and jerking off over the tablets/laptops and here comes Konza, take some time to really reflect on what that photo says.
My point about the Katiba was actually simpler than you seem to appreciate. That point is this: A government has certain obligations to its citizens, and the fact that the citizens might be taking up the slack where the government is failing does not change that. And in this particular case of Kenya, it is a joke to have a government that is obsessed with gadgets and whatever while the basics are not covered ... supposedly because there is no money. And not just money blown on misplaced priorities: billions are getting eaten, 24/7, all over the place! Talk about sheer, mindless stupidity .... just as well have "donors" and "development partners".
Random thought: do you know that in Kenya right now adequate nutrition, clean water, and a place to poop are what would make the biggest difference in learning at the lower ages? Well before one gets to laptops and tablets and digital curriculum and all are set for Konza City and MPESA World?
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There is a history of schools going down the tubes when the mzungu founder hands over to the first melanin endowed manager. Fact.
Yep. And the reasons have little to do with a lack of money. What's more, it's not just in education. For things to really change, we must deal with some realities in a very direct manner, however "painful" that might be.
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I am still trying to find the location of this school for an urgent intervention. If anybody finds out please post data:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C693XnHWwAAWO47.jpg)
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Meanwhile, every governor has a chopper while constituents have no schools.
Even in NRB go to schools like Kilimani etc and youll see dilapidated buildings
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I am still trying to find the location of this school for an urgent intervention. If anybody finds out please post data:
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C693XnHWwAAWO47.jpg)
I would not be surprised if it's a stone throw away from a mwenyenchi.
That said, I am surprised why the villagers don't fix it up. Maybe replace it with some sturdy tents and furniture. The government wont.
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They are way ahead of this place in Baringo
(https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/images/monday/mduxiwhmvkpu0oz569caff7be6cb.jpg)
A school in the wild where learners sit on stones and learn under trees
Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000188550/a-school-in-the-wild-where-learners-sit-on-stones-and-learn-under-trees
or this one
(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQRKQAB_YP0OiTJWyRCYjvy1T58ZXdi3c95BExOQRAmb18mcmQ2rQ)
or ....
But they will all have laptops. So all is good.
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Tucked away in the rugged terrain of the semi-arid Sigor lies the little-known Likwon Primary School.
Established a decade ago, the school is in a state of disrepair and more than 200 pupils have been forced to grapple with infrastructural challenges. The school has only two classrooms and a mud-walled administration block that is in deplorable condition.
The tiny administration block also acts as the staff room, kitchen and library as well as the head teacher’s office.
Most affected are the more than 85 nursery school children who are forced to learn under withered acacia trees outside despite their tender age.
The two classrooms have pitiable five desks between them and most of the pupils sit on either the sun-baked ground or rocks.
Salome Cheptoo, a nursery class teacher, said the school was first established as a nursery school before it was converted into a primary school.
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“No one has built more classrooms to accommodate the increasing pupil population and ensure that there is no interference as they transition from one class to another,” she said.
Ms Cheptoo narrated how the children who, after walking long distances to the school, spent their class time dozing. The situation is exacerbated by hunger pangs and a lack of water at the institution.
LEARNING SCHEDULES
Daily, the pupils are required to take water to school, which has a negative impact on their learning schedules.
“When it rains, lessons are suspended because the water fills the two classrooms and the field where the nursery pupils are taught. The situation here is dire also because there is no sanitation,” said Hosea Kalemnyam, the head teacher.
He blamed successive leaders for neglecting the institution since it was opened by Wilson Lotole, a former MP.
“When our pupils graduate to Standard Four, they move to neighbouring schools more than four kilometres away,” said Mr Kalemnyam.
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In Marakwet East, pupils of Tangul Primary School face a similar ordeal.
From a distance, a structure made of rusted iron sheets, rafters and poles held together by patches of mud, most of which has fallen away due to age and weather effects, could easily pass for a sheep pen.
But a look inside the rectangle structure that is partitioned into three rooms reveals desks and blackboards; the only reason to believe the ramshackle structure is actually a school building.
The dusty floor in Standard Five East has damp patches as a result of water sprinkled by the pupils to settle the dust and ensure that lessons go on with less sneezing and coughing.
BETTER DAYS
Charles Kaprait, the school’s chairman, said the dilapidated classrooms were established in 1951, when the school was founded.
“The classrooms have seen better days. My father used them before me and my children are using them now. During the rainy season, learning is disrupted because runoff water from the elevated end flows into the classrooms, which have no walls. The rooms become muddy and therefore unsuitable for learning,” said Mr Kaprait, pointing to huge holes in the old walls.
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The school situated on the edge of Embobut Forest has a population of 1,200 pupils; 350 in the lower section and two streams up to Standard Eight.
Esther Kibor, a parent at the school, explained that the huge pupil population was due to the numerous families evicted from the forest who found alternative homes in the surrounding area. The neigbouring Chawis Primary School is about 10km away.
Embobut experiences low temperatures of about 12 degrees Celsius.
Mr Kaprait blamed area leaders for neglecting the needs of the school and giving empty promises whenever they visited.
“The MPs have been making pledges that they haven’t fulfilled. For the past 15 years, they have built only three permanent classrooms from the Constituency Development Fund,” he said.
Marakwet
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It's about time gov change it policy on school infrastructure. This should no longer be the burden of parents. Gov should build schools & infrastructure. I know education budget already take a huge junk of the budget - so justifying this maybe a little tough - but gov can start by building few model schools in every constituency -
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Has education been devolved?
These are the future leaders, and counties whould be required to build schools like crazy instead of buying SUVs
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It's about time gov change it policy on school infrastructure. This should no longer be the burden of parents. Gov should build schools & infrastructure. I know education budget already take a huge junk of the budget - so justifying this maybe a little tough - but gov can start by building few model schools in every constituency -
Amen.
The goal should be that all schools will be EQUAL offering EQUAL education. This should lead to the eventual death of public boarding schools. Children would access the same education they think they can find at Alliance right at their own doorsteps!