President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the Ministry of Education to issue a new set of building guidelines for school infrastructure.
Speaking during the State Of The Nation Address on Thursday, Uhuru said the Education ministry and the Transport ministry will by December 1, issue the guidelines.
“This is with the fact that significant financial resources will be deployed towards the construction of at least 12,500 new classrooms and related school facilities,” he said.
Uhuru said this will allow the use of appropriate and cost-effective building technologies suited to the varied geographies of Kenya.
In 2019, seven pupils from Precious Talent Academy perished while 57 others were injured after their classroom collapsed.
The upper floor which was made of concrete caved in and collapsed on the pupils who were in the lower classes.
Buildings, classrooms, laboratories, and equipment- education infrastructure – are crucial elements of learning environments in schools and universities.
High-quality infrastructure facilitates better instruction, improves student outcomes, and reduces dropout rates, among other benefits.
According to the Conversation, the Kenyan government has taken steps to expand existing infrastructure and build new schools. But this hasn’t had much impact.
Between 2012 and 2016, the number of public primary schools grew by just 13% to 22,945.
By comparison, private schools grew by 64.5%. Public schools aren’t growing fast enough for the millions of students that need them.
