The National government is expected to spend over Sh1.2 billion towards the construction of 1243 classrooms of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in the four counties of the Western region.
The Regional Director of Education (RDE) Jared Obiero says the four counties of Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma and Busia have been allocated a total of Sh1,243,000,000 towards the works in readiness for use by grade nine students next year.
Speaking to Kenya News Agency (KNA) in his office in Kakamega, Obiero said construction of phase one has already commenced, with phase two expected to kick off in October this year. The RDE said the Schools’ Board of Management (BOM) and Schools’ Infrastructure Committees (SIC) are overseeing the construction of the buildings.
He said the government has already wired the funds in respective schools’ bank accounts and, according to the Ministry of Education guidelines, construction works must be completed within three months, with effect from the date of signing the contract.
Obiero said Kakamega County has received the lion’s share of 506 classrooms expected to be constructed, with 81 classrooms being undertaken under phase one and an additional 425 under phase two. He said Vihiga has been allocated a total of 170 classrooms, with 55 currently being constructed under phase one, while another 115 classrooms to be constructed under phase two.
Bungoma and Busia counties have been given a total of 366 and 201 classrooms respectively.
“Under phase one, Bungoma is currently undertaking construction of 129 classrooms, with 239 expected to be constructed under phase two, while in Busia 50 classrooms are being done under phase two and 151 classrooms to be constructed in phase two.
“Construction works of phase two is expected to commence in October this year, at a time when ongoing construction works of phase one will have been completed,” he said. “I have launched the construction works in a number of schools including Kakamega Primary School that has the largest number of 12 classrooms based on the enrolment,” he added.
“Each classroom is being constructed at a uniform cost of Sh1 million countrywide,” he added. Obiero said additional classrooms are to be built under the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) kitty, which is under Members of the National Assembly (MP’s).
“Here in Western, NG-CDF will fund construction of additional 3,500 classrooms,” he added. “The Ministry has issued guidelines and MP’s will be expected to fund construction in schools not funded by the Ministry,” he added.
He said the guidelines require that the infrastructure budget should be approved by the Board of Management, adding that education officials were monitoring the construction to ensure contractors adhere to specifications provided for under the Bill of Quantities (BQ’s).
According to the Education Principal Secretary Dr. Bellio Kipsang, the government seeks to construct about 16,000 for grade nine by January 2025. Out of these, 9,000 classrooms are being funded by the World Bank at a cost of Sh9 billion.