Nchoro and Karungu Secondary Schools in South Mugirango Constituency, Kisii County are likely to close down due to low student enrollment.
According to Karungu Secondary School Deputy Principal, Geoffrey Monyancha, the school has 63 students – 12 in Form 1, 15 in Form 2, 15 in Form 3, and 21 in Form 4.
He attributed the poor enrolment to the low capitation funds received from the Ministry of Education, a factor that encourages students to join schools with better infrastructure.
“Capitation funds are determined by student population. Parents should not expect capitation in local schools if they neglect their own schools in preference to those that have good buildings,” he said.
The County Education Board (CEB) had temporarily closed the school in first term after students failed to turn up for reopening.
After pleas from parents, the school reopened with only 50 students against 9 teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The CEB Chairman Prof. Henry Onderi said that the teacher-to-student ratio was impractical for a school terming it as a waste of human resources saying the government was paying idle teachers.
Onderi also blamed the parents for enrolling their children in neighbouring schools instead of supporting their own.
Prof. Onderi and his team went on to disband the school’s management committee in the second term over incompetence.
Since then, the school has been suffering low student population which is inviting its imminent closure.
“We reopened the school for some time to give parents time to consult and assist in supporting the school but it seems they were defeated and we might be forced to close it again and ask parents to relocate the remaining students to other schools,” he said.
Parents who talked to Education News argued that if the school is closed permanently, it will burden students from the area who will be forced to travel long distances to neighbouring schools.
They appealed to area MP Sylivanus Osoro to use the constituency’s NG-CDF money to improve the schools’ infrastructure.
By Enock Okong’o
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