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The Nairobian

Nyangera Primary: Siaya's 'forgotten' school crying out for help to stay afloat

Nyanza

By Isaiah Gwengi | Aug 12, 2024

**Dilapidated ECD classrooms at Nyangera Primary School in Yimbo East Ward, Siaya County.** [Isaiah Gwengi, Standard]

Nyangera Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centre in Bondo sub-county is crying for help.

The ECD centre –if it qualifies to be called so –is in bad shape.

A rusty roof and collapsing mud walls prepare you for what to expect at the center, tucked inside Yimbo East ward in Siaya County.

A fading Action Aid signage on the classroom forms part of the fondest memory of the year when a benefactor helped the school.

Action Aid, a non-governmental organization in 2005, built a classroom that now badly needs a facelift if it is to withstand the young learners’ quest for basic education.

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More than ten years since the inception of devolution and 70 years after the school was established, young learners know what it means to endure a life of hardship.

Theirs is an isolated community that survives without the barest learning facilities such as a classrooms and teachers.

Despite many appeals by the community to the county government of Siaya to build an ECD centre at the school, everything has remained elusive.

According to the school’s Board of Management (BOM) chairman Mr Gilbert Owaki, the school is in dire need of a modern learning facility.

Mr Owaki, who told The Standard that the school has been registering low intake in ECD due to poor facilities, appealed to Governor James Orengo and the area MCA Francis Otiato to come to their aid.

“Many parents prefer to take their children to private schools because our school does not have the facilities for learning,” he said.

With only one teacher employed by the county government, the chairman said they have been forced to employ an extra teacher to help the learners.

Another board member, Jairus Ouma, said the structures that are being used as ECD centre are too old and risky for the children.

“We have proposed for the construction of the ECD centre during our Annual Development Programme (ADP) public participation but nothing has happened,” said Ouma.

He added that some neighbouring schools that were started after Nyangera now have modern ECDs and even secondary schools.

According to the school’s head teacher Mr George Nyamai, the centre currently has 50 learners, with PP1 and playgroup sharing a classroom.

“The young learners are also forced to share toilets with the primary pupils and this is not very good,” said Mr Nyamai.

Yesterday, area MCA Otiato who cited a number of challenges, said he is pushing so hard to have the centre built.

“There has been confusion from the executive side on completing and equipping existing ECDs instead of constructing new ones,” said Otiato.