So who sanctioned all this eating in schools?

Among the things the Kenyan society can pride itself for, is the growth of a culture of transparency. This culture has grown out of the strong desire for citizens to seek answers to the perplexing questions of our time. And because of that, we seek a clarification from the Ministry of Education (MoE) on tthe “100 per cent Transition Infrastructure Grant’. In short, we ask, what was the money meant for? Is it serving this need?

As the name of the initiative suggests, the national government allocates this fund to the marginalised counties and schools to facilitate infrastructure projects, which will in turn ensure enhanced transition of pupils to the next level of learning.

Loud whispers

This is without doubt a laudable initiative by the central government to level the playing field so that areas disadvantaged by long years of inequity can have their fair share of the educational cake. What is troubling, however, are the loud whispers emanating from these areas.

That this fund has predictably – and in our typical Kenyan style - ended being misappropriated.

A sizeable amount of this money actually ends up in the pockets of MoE officials and TSC officers at the county and sub-county levels in the pretext of monitoring infrastructure projects.

It is not possible that the government did not induct its officers on what the money is meant for. Regardless, the important service that the fund was supposed to deliver seems to have been relegated to the periphery.

This is the logical conclusion one would arrive at after principals in the concerned areas raise concerns that the money is in fact being used to pay MoE and TSC officers allowances and fuel government vehicles when they visit schools to monitor progress of projects.

What’s more, these monitoring visits are so regular, often with the appearance of county and sub-county officials in an alternating fashion. While monitoring government projects in schools is fine, it should not dig a dent into the very projects the fund is supposed to facilitate.

Principals find themselves in a tight spot as there is always the threat – in word and kind – that projects in their schools won’t be approved if they don’t ‘motivate’ the monitoring teams. One wonders why public officers should charge a fee for doing a job they are already paid to do.

For the avoidance of doubt, let the government specify what percentage of the fund should be used as hand-out and fueling government vehicles.

What for?

At the time of writing this article, there are claims of some schools in these far-flung counties that having spent more than Sh100,000 on the monitoring teams alone.

Let us even assume that such visits – numerous as they are – are necessary: it is not clear what the composition of the monitoring team should be.

Principals and teachers have been wondering why TSC officers should be in the team (only to increase amount spent on allowances) when monitoring, evaluation and approval of projects is supposed to be done by the Ministry of Education.

This is happening even as school managers in the said area grapple with the bloated cost of building materials.

It obvious that such revelations should rub some people the wrong way, but it should not matter much when an issue of propriety at stake. “Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty,” so said Lincoln, a former US President.

“The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep’s throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty,” he added.  

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About two weeks ago, we addressed the matter of unhealthy disparities in schools. It now emerges that one of the issues enhancing the said disparities relates to the purchase of textbooks for schools.

You will recall that the government stopped allocating money for the purchase of textbooks when it rightly discovered that the money was being misappropriated.

With the MoE now having taken up the responsibility to buy books for schools, some institutions have been sorely affected by delays.

New and upcoming schools are worst hit because there are those that do not have libraries already established.

In this regard, students in schools that have existed for a long time would have alternatives.

Teachers are raising concerns that there are students who are going to sit for this year’s national examinations without having laid their eyes on textbooks which are supposed to have been supplied much earlier.

In other cases, the books got supplied so late in the year. It is critical that the MoE improves its processes to ensure that there is timely supply of books and related teaching and learning resources across the country in order to address this anomaly.

Dr Wesonga is a lecturer at the University of Kabianga – Kericho [email protected]