Photo exposes bad state of schools

A widely circulated photo of pupils sitting on concrete blocks in a flooded classroom has exposed the sorry state of infrastructure at Coast schools.

The photo captured pupils at Mangororo Primary School in Ganze constituency, Kilifi County, seated on blocks in a mud-walled waterlogged classroom.

PROJECT STALLED

Mrs Gertrude Nyambu, the headteacher, says the picture was taken on Wednesday evening after a downpour.

“The rain lasted just 15 minutes. Imagine what would happen had it persisted,” Mrs Nyambu told the Saturday Nation.

The teacher said the entire structure used by standards One and Two pupils was flooded.

Many Kenyans raised questions about the use of money disbursed to schools every year through the Constituency Development Fund, Free Primary Education kitty and infrastructural cash from the national and devolved governments.

“The floodwaters have since receded but the classroom is still muddy,” Mrs Nyambu said.

Mangororo Primary School chairman Justus Mwagona acknowledged that infrastructure is pathetic.

“The buildings are few and weak. Parents tried to put up one structure but the project stalled for lack of funds,” he said.

“The CDF built one in 2015 but it is empty as there are no desks. The desks you see were borrowed from a neighbouring school.”

Mrs Jumwa Mwambire, a parent, captured the sorry state of the infrastructure at the school.

UNDER TREES

“Children sit under trees and use blocks as chairs. Learning will be disrupted if the rain continues. Most of the children take shelter at the ECDE building when it rains,” she said.

Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi said the county government would build other ECDE classrooms at Mangororo Primary School.

The county boss made the comments in a statement released by his communication office on Thursday, moments after the photo went viral.

“Mangororo Pre-Primary School will benefit from this programme under the current budget. A letter of award has already been given to the contractor, who is mobilising resources to move on site on May 10,” said the statement sent to the media through Kilifi communication director James Mulei.

He added that devolved governments can only handle pre-primary education.

“As the county government of Kilifi takes steps to build pre-primary classrooms at Mangororo, we urge the national government to fix the challenges facing the primary section,” Mr Kingi went on.

Kauma Sub-County Education director Aaron Karani declined to comment on the issue.

“I’m not in Kilifi at the moment. I have been briefed by the headteacher. I know learning is going on and will only comment after I have assessed the situation,” Mr Karani said.

Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire said most schools in Kilifi lack the necessary infrastructure.

15 DESKS

“There are about 30 such schools. It is a challenge we are addressing,” the lawmaker said.

The situation is the same in Tana River and other counties.

One such school is Katsangani Primary in the Tana Delta.

The school has 425 pupils and only two permanent classes built by the Garsen CDF.

The permanent classes are used by less than 30 pupils, most of them KCPE exam candidates.

“We only have 15 desks,” said headteacher Kongo Tindi.

Reports by Samuel Baya, Kalume Kazungu and Lucy Mkanyika