Concern as only 5,000 classrooms ready ahead of Grade 9 roll out

MPs on Wednesday raised question over the government’s ability to prepare for rollout of Grade 9 ahead of January deadline.

With only 46 days left before the official transition, MPs heard that only 5,052 classes have been completed.

This is against the required 16,000 classrooms, raising serious questions about the government’s preparedness to implement the program effectively.

Appearing before Parliament on Wednesday, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba revealed that while the government intends to construct 17,800 classes—surpassing the required 16,000— however, progress has been slow.

 “Out of the 11,000 classes under construction by the Ministry, a significant number are at various levels of completion and will be ready by December 2024,” he said. 

Additionally, Ogamba noted that the construction of classrooms under the management of MPs would also meet the December deadline.

The slow pace of construction has sparked concerns about potential congestion in schools and disruptions to the learning process come January 6, when the academic calendar resumes. 

The lack of readiness could result in logistical nightmares for schools, including overcrowding, strained facilities, and inadequate learning resources, further complicating the already contentious CBC rollout.

To address the lagging progress, Ogamba outlined measures to accelerate the construction process.  Contractors have been issued strict timelines, and procurement has been decentralized to the school level for better oversight.

 “The monitoring of construction sites is ongoing to ensure timely completion. Field officers provide weekly updates on progress, and any challenges they face are immediately escalated,” he said. 

While these measures are intended to streamline the process, the short timeline leaves little room for error or delays.

Ogamba said the government has allocated Sh11 billion directly to schools for classroom construction and Sh6.8 billion through the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) to MPs for the construction of 6,800 additional classrooms. 

Ogamba also noted plans to build another 2,000 laboratories beginning next year.

He further noted that the procurement was done at the school level for easier management.

The CS said that focus on the transition will be on three aspects ; the provision of furniture, provision of adequate textbooks, and the recruitment of additional teachers.

He said that school heads will also be required to use funds set for infrastructure and repairs under capitation to provide furniture for the Grade 9 learners.