Wrangles between parents and the board of management have stalled the construction of a Siaya school dining hall.
Siaya Township Secondary School principal Emmanuel Khisa fears that the war of words will adversely affect the institution if the board of management and the parents association do not resolve their differences.
The problem arose after the BoM asked parents to contribute Sh3,000 each towards the completion of the dining hall on which Sh4.5 million has already been spent.
The dining hall is projected to cost Sh7 million. It has stalled for six months.
Khisa on Friday told parents, teachers and students, “The differences between parents’ leadership and BoM will cost us heavily. It is time we come together because if we don’t our students will be the ultimate losers.”
He spoke soon after the BoM allegedly incited parents not to contribute towards the completion of the dining hall.
The parents refused to contribute Sh3,000 each. They settled on Sh1,000, which the principal says is too little.
“The total amount parents can raise is only Sh700,000 if each makes a contribution of Sh1,000. We now appeal to parents to settle their arrears (Sh1.2 million).
Separately, county Water executive George Rubik urged parents to take the education of their children seriously and support the development of schools.
He told parents to take pride in building local institutions and at the same time reminded them that funeral contributions added no value to their lives.
“It’s sad that parents from Nyanza region value funerals at the expense of educating their children. They contribute as much as Sh500,000 for one funeral through Whatsup groups yet fail to contribute towards school development,” Rubik regretted.
He spoke on Friday during the launch of Central Primary School’s strategic plan.