The government should create an office in the Ministry of Education under which the cost of damages of school property and disruption of education could be quantified and managed to avoid abrupt budgeting on such losses, Embu parents have said.
Such abrupt budgets could lead to overpricing of repairs resulting to imbalances on repair funds allocations across the country where costs of materials were different.
Creation of such an independent office would ease means through which losses on property and time wasted by learners would be quantified and the costs agreed upon before being forwarded to the government or the private sector for repairs.
The call from the parents who spoke to the Education News came against the backdrop of the government’s decision to invest more than Ksh200 million to rehabilitate schools damaged by bandits in Baringo County.
In a surprising announcement received with envy by parents across the country, Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki announced the release of funds and further announced the hiring of 100 teachers.
The immediate release of the funds whose main source could not be ascertained was received with calculated misgivings especially in regions across the counties where education is frequently disrupted by insecurity, floods and damage of infrastructure yet such interventions were never forthcoming.
Parents led by Nicholas Njeru from Mbeere South said all Kenyans needed to be treated favorably and in the same way. The announcement by the CS that the Ksh100 million would be doubled to Ksh200 million raised questions about fairness and balances in tackling emergencies.
Another parent, Mr. Ireri Wamwongia said the Ministry should have a desk which specializes on studying the cost of damages to control any leakages when it comes to quantity surveys and investigations.
Both parents suggested that damages caused by accidents or deliberately as happens during riots or other insecurity occurrences such as banditry should be handled by professionally qualified officers.
Continued independent operations by various ministries could eventually create opportunities for over-allocation and misappropriation of government funds which needed to be managed with transparency and accountability, insisted Mr. Njeru.
The parents suggested that even when damage of property occurred due to accidental fires or arson by students, there was need for government involvement to professionally ascertain cost of damage and required funds for execution of repairs.
Some principals, schools heads and management committees, the group said, could also collude to present overpriced budgets in the absence of qualified, protected and trustworthy officers.
By Robert Nyagah
Get more stories from our website: Education News
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
