The government is not gambling or guessing when it says children will have free secondary education from next year, Education PS Belio Kipsang says.
Yesterday he said the Jubilee administration has prepared for free secondary education for the last four years, working overtime to ensure the programme is successful. Both President Uhuru Ken- yatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga have promised Kenyans free secondary education after the August 8 General Election. Raila has said the programme will be implemented from September, Uhuru said the programme will roll out from next year. Kipsang spoke to the more than 8,000 secondary school principals meeting in Mombasa.
He said the Jubilee government has set aside Sh7 billion to improve infrastructure in secondary schools, before the programme kicks off.
About 2,500 secondary schools nationwide will benefit from construction of classrooms, dormitories, laboratories and lavatories. “We aim to construct 1,000 classrooms, 1,000 laboratories and toilets for our children before next year,” the PS said.
“We have committed ourselves that come 2018, every child sitting the KCPE exam will be able to move to the next level,” Kipsang said.
He said the administration has set aside Sh7 billion for the upgrade. The PS said this is the highest amount ever channelled towards school infrastructure. Kipsang said of the Sh7 billion, Sh300 million has been set aside for special schools. “Our children who have special needs have for a long time not been given adequate attention. That is why society and the communities that we come from always want to hide these children,” he said.