Coast leaders have resolved to unite to improve the education standards in the region which has low for long.
Two Cabinet Secretaries from the region—Salim Mvurya of Blue Economy and His Gender Counterpart Aisha Jumwa— and Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro, said they were committed to improving the education stands of the region.
Mvurya who was the chief guest during the official opening of Town Secondary School, a community school in Malindi which was upgraded and equipped with ultramodern sports infrastructure, said President William Ruto’s government has committed Sh600 billion for education this financial year and the region stands to benefit a lot.
He said in Kilifi, there will be recruitment of more teachers beginning January next year, as part of the move to address the education challenges in the county.
At the same time, The Blue Economy CS said there will be a big convention that will bring together all stakeholders from the security, civil rights groups, the leadership of the region, and the National government led by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, aimed at looking for a permanent solution to the drug trafficking and abuse menace in the region.
“Here in Coast, we have had challenges of school dropouts, many students do not complete their studies. I laud Kilifi county administration for investing heavily in education to uplift the standards,” he said.
He hailed the governor for also making education among his key priority areas, and thanked Jumwa for investing in school infrastructure during her tenure as Malindi MP.
Farid Sheikh, the Board Chairman of the Town Secondary School, said they came up with the idea of reviving the institution which had collapsed, to help uplift Malindi's living standards.
Sheikh said Malindi is faced with challenges of drug abuse, radicalisation, low Illiteracy levels, and poverty among others, which require swift action to address.
“As a board, we decided to chip in to see how best we could address some of those challenges, and we then as a board, provide leadership to ensure the school has a clear vision,” he said.
He said they chose to do a Competency-Based Curriculum and also invested in sports and set up football grounds, a basketball pitch, a beach volleyball and Rugby pitch.
