By Roy Hezron
Nairobi County has attained 100 per cent delivery of desks to primary and secondary schools in the government’s Sh1.9 billion Economic Stimulus project.
According to Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, the county has delivered 14,490 desks to primary schools at a cost of Sh36.2 million and 5,150 desks worth Sh19.7 million to secondary schools.
Speaking at Our Lady of Fatima Girls Secondary School in Kariobangi North on Wednesday, Magoha said he was impressed with the distribution process.
“Many counties have approached the 100 per cent mark and I urge them to step up the distribution as we seek to complete the exercise and focus on learning and preparation for examinations,” he said.
Counties with over 80 per cent distribution are Uasin Gishu, Siaya, Vihiga, Kisumu, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kiambu, Migori, Machakos, Murang’a and Busia.
A total of 625,000 desks will be distributed in the programme.
Magoha said most schools had complied with Covid-19 prevention protocols.
“The government applauds MPs who, through NG-CDF allocations, and the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, for their efforts in supporting schools with water storage facilities and access to water,” he said.
To achieve social distancing, the CS said schools were applying different strategies including use of dining halls, auditoriums and open spaces, notably under trees, for learning.
The CS said most parents were providing their children with masks.
“In the few areas which experienced challenges, the government in collaboration with partners such as the KCB Group Foundation and UNICEF distributed masks to learners from vulnerable backgrounds,” said Magoha.
He said the government had released funds to schools and asked head teachers to utilise the money prudently.
Meanwhile, Magoha has instructed teachers not to allow learners to keep sanitisers in small bottles.
“If a child has portable sanitiser, they should hand it over and take it back when they are leaving school. We have already seen that a fire was started using a sanitiser in one of the schools,” said Magoha.
He was referring to an incident where a fire broke out at Cheborge Boys Secondary School in Kericho, damaging one wing of a dormitory. The cause of the fire has not been established.
Earlier in the month, the CS had directed that not more than five litres of sanitisers would be allowed in a school at any one time.
“Our children are very creative. We all know what they may do with it,” Magoha said at the time.
