Parents of Kiptergekyan Primary School in Bomet Central sub county of Bomet County have resolved to shut down the institution, citing frustrations over what they term as deliberate neglect and mismanagement in the allocation of education funds.
The parents protested paralyzing the learning in the institution, alleged collusion between the county education office and administrators of neighbouring Chebulu Primary School, which they claim has left Kiptergekyan disadvantaged.
According to the parents, pupils of Kiptergekyan Primary are electronically registered under Chebulu Primary School despite physically attending classes at Kiptergekyan.
A parent, Debra Chepkoech said this has resulted in government resources and capitation funds being directed to Chebulu Primary School while Kiptergekyan remains unfunded and despite being registered and issued with certificate.
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“This is because the learners of Kiptergekyan are electronically hosted in Chebulu Primary while they are physically in Kiptergekyan. All funds are directed to Chebulu while Kiptergekyan is left unfunded,” she said.
She argued that that the situation has rendered Kiptergekyan a “ghost school” on government records despite hosting a real student population on the ground.
“We have visited education offices in Bomet two times, and the officers told us that there are nowhere our learners will go. We are surprised that even the six learners who are due to do the KPSEA exams are supposed to do them in the neighboring school,” she said.
The parents now demand urgent intervention from the Ministry of Education headquarters to resolve the matter.
“We have resolved to close the school and escalate the issue to the Education Headquarters for a final solution,” she stated.
Another aggrieved parent, Regina Chepkorir, called on the Education CS Julius Ogamba to intervene in the matter before things get out of hand.
“This school will only reopen when these matters are solved, otherwise our children will continue staying at our homes,” Regina said.
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She suspected that they might be some officials from the education ministry who are trying to pursue their own interests in the matter.
The parents want the pupils registered under their rightful school, resources allocated directly to Kiptergekyan, and additional teachers posted to the institution to ease the burden of understaffing.
They are also calling for a refund of funds that have previously been diverted to Chebulu Primary School, insisting that government resources must follow the learners rather than learners being forced to follow resources.
Efforts to reach Bomet County Director of Education Leonard Ngugi for comments were fruitless.
By KIMUTAI LANGAT
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