By Erick Nyayiera
A Non-Governmental Organization called TIJI Foundation has entered into partnership with the Ministry of Education to relieve parents countrywide from the burden of purchasing school uniforms.
Executive Director of TIJI Foundation Mr. Timothy Odende says that they did a calculation and established apart from fees payment, parents require another Kshs. 50,000 or more for purchasing school uniforms and other requirements thereby getting seriously strained.
He says that under this arrangement, they have agreed with the Ministry of Education to supply the uniforms to schools then the parents can pay in installments to reduce for them the pressure of back to school rush.
Mr. Odende who spoke to journalists at the Foundation’s headquarters in Gem constituency, revealed that they have already assembled a number of private sector players with whom they will undertake the program which is estimated to consume Kshs. 18 billion.
The Executive Director stated that their projection is to supply school uniforms including the games kits and bedding together with a few books that are usually required on admission of Form One students.
He also revealed that they want to use the uniform project as a means of reviving the cotton industry by giving the cotton growing counties the capacity of changing cotton into fabric.
Mr. Odende regretted that cotton is currently a loss making product because the majority of fabric is still being imported; a trend that he says can be reversed if the cotton industry can be well supported.
