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Form ones to receive 600,000 packets of sanitary towels

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The American Embassy has donated 600,000 packets of sanitary towels to 357,029 needy girls in form one who were placed in public day Secondary schools.

This is in a bid to minimize absenteeism, drop out, increased teacher /learner contact hours, retention and delivery of quality learning of girls in schools.

The Ministry of Education has been coordinating the sanitary towels programme whose overall objective is to provide sanitary towels to all needy girls in public primary schools throughout the school calendar across the country.

This programme is an integral component to address access and equity issues which are part of the Ministry of Education mandate.

The intervention addresses the needs of many girls in schools whose greatest challenge is absenteeism related to their reproductive health issues.

Access to sanitary towels remains a critical challenge for many young girls in Kenya, especially during this time of COVD – 19 pandemic. In situations like this, the girls are likely to resort to unhygienic ways which could be harmful to their health and safety.

It is in the interest of the Ministry of Education to continue coordinating the programme to ensure all vulnerable and deserving girls in line with vision 2030 social pillar get increased education opportunities.

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CS Magoha says no one is perfect, defends his track record

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Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha has defended his way of executing duties that have landed him in the hot soup, lately. The CS notes that the process of bringing reforms in the Education Sector is not easy as it may face unprecedented resistance. In his statement, he castigates his field officers for derailing the reforms.

This comes after the Public Service Commission trimmed his powers to manage workers in the Ministry.

Read the full statement from CS Magoha, below;

STATEMENT BY CS MAGOHA ON THE STATUS OF EDUCATION SECTOR

“Having accrued considerable experience in public service in numerous capacities, I strongly believe that for any meaningful, positive and measurable change to happen, things must be done differently. While I do concede that I am not perfect, in the process of reforms of the magnitude required to improve service delivery in the education sector, I also recognise that this process is bound to generate resistance if tangible results are to be achieved.

My management style which has proved successful over the years is walking about at the point of service delivery. I will qualify this position by citing a few examples:

1. Chronic Absenteeism from the workplace

When I was sworn in as Cabinet Secretary for Education on March 26, 2019 my first engagement at the Ministry of Education was to physically confirm whether Ministry employees report to work at the expected time. I immediately realised that more that 60% of the offices were empty and unattended by 11am.

I then sought to rally the staff and firmly impressed upon them the importance of reporting for duty on time. To monitor attendance of staff to their duties, I spearheaded the installation of CCTV and biometric devices in all entry and exit points for checking in and out all Ministry personnel. Though it was initially resisted, within a span of 6 months, cases of absenteeism had reduced to almost zero with nearly all top managers reporting for duty voluntarily by 6:30am, a situation which has remained the same to date.

2. Chronic Absenteeism by Field Officers

Chronic absenteeism in the field has persisted even though significant improvements have improved tremendously. A small number of field officers limit their work to their offices with little effort to physically monitor implementation of education programmes in the field unless a senior Ministry official from the Headquarters is present. This is however negated by a substantive number of dedicated field officers whose impact in the field is laudable.

During my numerous field visits, I have been able to identify competent officers such as Mr. Weru Machocho who I promoted and deployed as a Regional Director and he has demonstrated excellent results in a short span of a month especially through visiting more than 200 schools to physically inspect and ensure that Economic Stimulus Programme for desks are fabricated as per prototype specification and delivered to schools promptly.

For a measurable impact to be made, all government employees must work for the pay that they earn monthly. In my many field visits I have noted that chronic absenteeism is the single leading cause of poor quality assurance and oversight by the Ministry. On this concern, I wish to confirm that for as long as I remain at the helm of the Ministry, I shall continue to ensure that all Ministry employees deliver services to the public as per their job descriptions.

3. Field Visits

I wish to begin by thanking senior officers from the Head Quarters for their numerous and very effective visits to the field since these have strongly supported service delivery by the Ministry.

During my numerous field visits, I have observed and made public pronouncements many times that I have continuously found our teachers in class teaching diligently and demonstrating that they are hardworking, and committed in their teaching. However, there are a number of instances when our field officers do not provide the necessary support and superintendence required for effective service delivery.

The rights of learners, teachers, parents and the wider public who are directly and indirectly affected by the education sector must be safeguarded by all public officers in the education sector by being hands-on and diligent.

4. Misappropriation of Public Funds in the Ministry of Education

As public officers, we are duty bound to ensure that Kenyans their hard-earned taxes and other revenues from the public kitty is utilised prudently. This can only be achieved if we embrace hands-on management of these resources.

This management approach has been instrumental in identifying lapses within the Ministry where Public Funds have been misappropriated and measures to ensure that I effectively intervene have been deployed.

In order to ensure that proper planning and record keeping is maintained the CBC Taskforce undertook an exercise to collect data from all learning institutions and the learners in each institution. This can now be verified and is fully documented.

A key example among others of the significance of the Taskforce’s findings is in the primary school sector where due diligence identified an inflation of numbers of learners from 8.47 million to 9 million learners. The shortfall of 529,997 learners has led to the saving of Kshs. 752,594,740 annually.

5. The Government Stimulus programme for the delivery of desks worth Kshs.1.9 billion

The government allocated Kshs.1.9 billion under the Economic Stimulus Programme for the supply of desks to schools in order to enhance social distancing as a strategy of reducing Covid-19 transmission.

I tasked one of the units in the Ministry to develop and cost a prototype. When I did due diligence of establishing the market prices of the desks, I realised that the Unit at the Ministry had inflated the cost by Ksh 1,700, which means only 250,000 desks would have been supplied.  The Ministry set the prices at Ksh 2500 and Ksh 3800 for primary and secondary school desks respectively.

The government will now be able to supply 622,157 locally assembled desks to 5,136 public primary (359,450 desks) and 5,243 public secondary schools (262,707 desks, lockers and chairs). This programme seeks to ensure that local jua kali artisans and workshops at the sub-county level are supported to uplift thousands of livelihoods and support learners with desks that would mitigate the effects of social distancing in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The process of fabricating and delivering the desks took off in earnest and when I demanded for a report from Sub-Counties which had delivered desks to schools I was taken aback when I sought to verify the reports by sampling and going to the field in person.

In Kakamega North where the schools identified were five (5), I only found delivery in 2 schools and the desks delivered in those schools were of poor quality, not varnished and did not meet the specifications of the prototype. The same was exemplified by Mumias East and numerous other sub-counties across the country.

I wish to thank all the field officers who are correcting such anomalies in an effort to fabricate and deliver the quality and standards of desks required as per the prototype.

6. 100% transition

The policy on 100% transition which was implemented from 2018 was only successful this year through mobilization of all education field officers and co-ordination with the Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government working as a team to mop up all children who had not reported to Form 1 at the expected time.

The operation was successful because I personally demanded that every education field officer must account for every child who had completed Class 8 and I visited all areas that had reported many cases of children who had not been admitted including those who were pregnant or from disadvantaged families.

In addition, the Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government through its Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred Matiangí ensured that all his field officers were fully engaged.

Conclusion

I thank all officers within the education sector for their diligence and continue to persuade the few who are left behind to join us in delivering for the Kenyan child as a team.

Unless otherwise directed by my appointing authority, I shall continue to perform ALL my duties and responsibilities with zeal and commitment and ensure that ALL officers in the Ministry of Education perform their duties for the benefit of the Kenyan Child, Parents and all education stakeholders.

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Schools Selected For CBC Infrastructural Development, To Get New Classrooms

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The government has set aside Sh17.9 million for construction of 23 classrooms in eight selected schools on pilot project in Mombasa County.

Consequently, the government has established Competence Based Curriculum development programme to upscale the current infrastructure to accommodate the needs in the targeted secondary schools countrywide by constructing 11,600 classrooms.

Speaking during a committee meeting Monday, Mombasa Deputy County Commissioner Ronald Mwiwawi said each classroom will cost Sh780, 000, adding that the project is expected to be delivered by April next year.

“We wish to know from each school the availability of space to build the classrooms. That is why we have involved the principals of the eight selected schools to give us an overview before the project kicks off,” he said.

The selected secondary schools in the county include Aldina Visram, Chuda Day, Mvita, Star of the Sea, Alfasi Girls, Makupa Boys, Mbaraki Girls and Sharif Nassir.

The Deputy county commissioner said the project has a specific design of construction and the identified contractors will have to abide by the proposal.

However, where space is limited the construction can be done on a storey building, added Mwiwawi.

“The amount allocated for this project is enough from the research done by the Ministries of Education and Interior and there will be no cartels in-between. The funds will be disbursed directly to the contractor from the ministry,” he said.

“There will be no advance payment and the contractor is expected to work and get paid on completion of the project,” added the Deputy County Commissioner.

He disclosed that contractor needed for the work must have financial muscle to deliver, possess integrity that can stand the test of time and who has had no litigation in any court for the last five years.

“Local contractors, either sole proprietors or in a partnership will be given the number one priority,” he added.

The Sub-County Education Director Newton Okwatsa said readiness to take up the project is critical for the committee to deliver before the set deadline, noting that close monitoring and supervision will be done by chiefs in their specific areas.

On his part, the Principal Aldina Visram Secondary School Juma Mshimu said school heads will cooperate with the committee and provide logistics to enable the project start in good time.

“We are very happy as the new approach of carrying out this particular project will certainly reduce some of burdens faced by school heads in the implementation of previous government programmes,” he said.

Meanwhile, all the selected schools have since confirmed availability of space for construction of the three classrooms and were now only waiting for site visit by the deputy county commissioner and the department of public works for approval.

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12,500 new classrooms to be constructed in public schools

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President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that at least 12,500 new classrooms and related school facilities will be constructed ahead of schools’ reopening in January next year. The head of state, who spoke in Parliament as he made the 2020 State of The Nation Address, said the Ministry of Education and the Ministry Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban issue a new set of building guidelines for school infrastructure.

BELOW IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH; TOUCHING ON THE EDUCATION SECTOR.

“A Nation’s future is its children. As custodians of and trustees for future generations, it is our duty to protect, nurture and mould our young children into responsible citizens. Our children embody the only true guarantee of the continuity of this Project that we call Kenya.

To this end, my Administration continues to institute far-reaching reforms within our education sector. In January last year, we successfully commenced the roll-out of the Competency Based Curriculum, an exercise, which, while not without its challenges, is one that has nevertheless been fully embraced by all stakeholders in the education sector.

As at the end of 2019 calendar year, we had been able to achieve a textbook to pupil ratio of 1:1 for grades 1 through to 3.
I assure this distinguished sitting that the journey to replace the 8.4.4 system with the new fit-for-purpose curricula, is well underway, and refinements are being undertaken in the course of implementation.

As a parent and a grandparent, I share in the pain and frustration of most parents in having our children home for nearly an entire year. However, as a responsible Government we put the health and safety of the Children as the paramount consideration.

The gradual and phased reopening of schools that began with the examination classes is being carefully monitored at all levels so as to ensure that our Young Kenyans are safe and secure as they continue preparing for their national examinations.

The Ministry of Education will, within 14 days from the date hereof announce the 2021 Academic Calendar, with all other classes expected to resume learning in January 2021.

Still on the subject of our basic education, I made a commitment to the Nation during my last State of the Nation Address that no child should be left behind, meaning no child would be denied the right to access quality education.

I am pleased to report to this House that for the second year running we have been able to achieve a transition rate of 100% from primary to secondary school.

Even as we prepare to reopen schools, no child will be left behind, even those that have regrettably transitioned into being young parents.

However, in the face of these undoubtedly impressive gains we must guard against resting on our laurels. The next frontier in the quest to improve education in Kenya is enhancing quality of education, both in terms of physical structure as well as content.

It is evident that our public day and boarding secondary school infrastructure is overstretched and as a result, our students are suffering congestion in their classes and dormitories.

These challenges, however real, must not stop us from pursuing what we know to be the right thing for our children. Rather, they should motivate us to work even harder.

Through a combination of interventions both policy and financial involving the Ministry of Education, County Governments and Members of the National Assembly through the National Government Constituency Development Fund, we shall have the necessary resources to address the infrastructure gap in our education sector conclusively within the next 24 months.

In this regard, I appeal to you to re-prioritize the use of the discretionary funds under your oversight, to respond to the immediate
and short-term needs of our learners. Currently, there is an urgent need
for construction and equipping of more dormitories, classes, and other
amenities to facilitate further ease of learning for our children.

Conscious of the fact that significant financial resources will be deployed towards the construction of at least 12,500 new classrooms and related school facilities. In that regard, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development will by 1st December, 2020 issue a new set of building guidelines for school infrastructure that allows the use of appropriate and cost effective building technologies suited to the varied geographies of our Nation.

The intention of these guidelines will be to achieve transparent and standardized bills of quantity that will guarantee value for taxpayers’ money. For every shilling that we put into school infrastructure, we must seek to obtain more classes built to acceptable standards.”

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President Kenyatta Launches Shs 1.9bn Locally Assembled School Desks Project

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President Uhuru Kenyatta Thursday launched the Shs 1.9 billion school furniture project that will see jua kali artisans supply 650,000 locally assembled desks.

Besides equipping secondary and primary schools, the project which is part of the Government’s post-Covid-19 economic stimulus program, is aimed at boosting the jua kali sector.

Speaking during the launch at a furniture workshop in Umoja estate, Nairobi County, the President said the project is modeled on the ongoing Kazi Mtaani youth employment initiative.

“After Kazi Mtaani program, we have said instead of school desks being made by big companies, we give our youth the opportunity to exercise their skills.

“We believe in individuals earning from their sweat and hence we decided to give our skilled youth the opportunity to earn decent livelihoods,” the President said.

The Head of State reiterated his commitment to continue improving the lives of all Kenyans by creating an enabling environment for hard working citizens to thrive.

“I don’t want to engage in empty politics of name calling. Rather, I am working hard to ensure all Kenyans work and enjoy the fruits of their labour,” he said.

The President directed the ministries of education and interior to ensure that the project benefits artisans across the country.

“We want to ensure all our youth with skills are engaged so as to benefit from their sweat. This program is not for Nairobi alone but for all Kenyans who are skilled and are working in the jua kali sector,” he said.

He challenged local artisans to ensure they assemble and supply desks that meet the highest quality standards and advised project beneficiaries to form saving societies to grow their earnings from the project.

“Once you start this work encourage all young people to form SACCO’s where they can be putting their savings. You should not utilise every coin, it is wise for you to save for the future,” the President said.

On his way from the launch, the President, who was accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries Fred Matiang’i (Interior) and Prof George Magoha (Education), made a brief stop over at the Nairobi Railway Station where he inspected ongoing modernisation works.