By Obegi Malack
Kajiado County Governor Joseph Ole Lenku has defended his government performance in the education sector, saying the county has employed 900 ECDE teachers on permanent basis since 2017.
He said the move has reduced teacher: student ratio from 1 to 38 pupils from 1 to 46 in 2017.
“Better learning environment and provision of porridge to pupils has pushed the enrollment of pupils in schools,” he said.
The governor, who was speaking during Madaraka Day celebrations in Ngong, noted that enrollment of pupils increased from 37,687 in 2017 to 41,000 in 2022.
“In 2017, there were 41 ECDE centres; now the number has grown to 226, out of which 172 have been completed while 54 are nearing completion. The county constructed a new school in Isinya township,” he recounted.
He added that the county has increased its investment in bursaries, which has risen from Sh.40 million for 3,000 beneficiaries to Sh.150 million to serve more than 10,000 students from secondary, college and university.
Additionally, he said they will increase the education kitty to Sh.200 million in the next government if elected.
The governor faces opposition from former governor Dr David Nkedianye who has been quoted as saying he laid the foundation for provision of services.
Kajiado County is among counties that have few schools, especially secondary schools. In Kajiado North, one of the highly populated regions in the county, 7,400 KCPE candidates enrolled for secondary education outside the region.
The region is among constituencies with a high number of private primary schools in the country and produces top KCPE performers.
