The Government has allocated Ksh.1.9 billion for the purchase of locally assembled desks to both public primary and secondary schools.
In a notice published in the local dailies on Tuesday, the Ministry of Education invited interested local juakali workshops and artisans to apply for the job to supply the desks at the sub-county level.
Artisans will be required to register for the tenders using prescribed forms that can be downloaded from the websites of the Ministries of Interior and Education or collect them from the offices of Deputy County Commissioners and Assistant County Commissioners countrywide.
“To ensure openness, transparency and fairness in this process, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, through their grassroots structures, will adopt a model similar to the one deployed in the Kazi Mtaani Initiative to identify and pay qualifying suppliers,” reads the notice.
Design prototypes of the desks will be available at the County Commissioners, County Directors of Education and their sub county offices.
“Duly filled forms are to be returned to the aforementioned offices by 18th September, 2020,” adds the notice.
The Ksh.1.9 billion allocation is under the Ksh.53.7 billion eight-point economic stimulus package unveiled by President Kenyatta in May this year to alleviate the effects of coronavirus pandemic on the economy.
Out of the Ksh.53 million, the government allocated Ksh.6.5 Billion to the Ministry of Education.
“The purpose of this is to hire 10,000 teachers and 1,000 ICT interns to support digital learning. The programme will also support the improvement of school infrastructure, including acquisition of 250,000 locally fabricated desks. The aim is to get thousands of our graduates off the bench and into action while we support local artisans and builders businesses,” said President Kenyatta on May 23, 2020.