Before you vote: The truth about upgrading infrastructure in high schools

Students at RCA Kasuroi Boys School take laboratory lessons at Uhuru Girls as their school lacks such facilities. Many testified they have never seen a laboratory despite the fact that they will sit the same exams as other students who do. PHOTO | PETER WARUTUMO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Has the government allocated Sh7 billion to upgrade facilities in schools?

 “…We’ve committed ourselves, that come 2018, we want to make sure that everyone of our children who do KCPE are able to proceed to the next level. And that is why this year we are putting around Sh7 billion to 2,500 of your schools to expand our facilities. This is the highest amount that we’ve been able to push to our schools for purposes of infrastructure, out of which we were able to pump in Sh300 million to 30 of our special schools so that when we say every one of our children proceed, we also take care of our children who have special needs …” -     Education Principal Secretary, Dr Belio Kipsang at the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) Meeting in Mombasa (June 19 2017)

In order to achieve 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school by January 2018, the Department for Basic Education prioritised infrastructure development, including classrooms, laboratories and sanitation facilities in the 2017/2018 fiscal year.

In its resource requirement brief released last month, the department reports that in the current financial year, over Sh5.5 billion was allocated to schools countrywide for infrastructure expansion and improvement.

The amount was to fund construction of 2,000 classrooms each costing Sh1 million, 1,000 science laboratories each costing Sh3 million and 1,000 sanitation facilities each costing Sh500,000. 

Assuming some schools got funds for only one facility, as opposed to all three, then it is plausible that 2,500 schools would benefit, as claimed by the PS. Once the facilities are completed, Form One places would increase by 90,000 students countrywide.

But even with the increased capacity, the Basic Education department projects that there will be a shortfall of 78,066 places. To meet the shortfall, a further Sh4.8 billion was required to construct 1,746 classrooms, 873 science laboratories and 873 sanitation blocks.

EDUCATION SECTOR REPORT

According to the brief, the extra spaces created out of the infrastructure grant would compound the current teacher shortage in schools.

In the Budget summary for the current financial year Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich said Sh300 million had been allocated for the upgrading of national schools and Sh500 million for water for schools.

The money allocated in the current financial year is way more than the 1.9 billion that was disbursed to 739 schools across the country in the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 financial years under the school infrastructure development, regular infrastructure development and public infrastructure initiative programmes, according to the Treasury’s Education Sector report (2017/2018-2018/2019). This included Sh24 million disbursed to 24 special-needs secondary schools in 2015/2016.

While the government has boosted development of infrastructure in schools, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education the infrastructure grants are more than Sh1 billion less than what Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang says was allocated, and next year there will still be a shortfall in Form One places.