Buses are expensive, let schools lease, say Siaya NGOs

Two NGOs in Siaya have proposed that schools should lease buses on a need basis instead of owning them.

They say buses are gobbling up a lot of money from financially constrained secondary schools, yet they can lease them cheaply.

TiJi Foundation and Bishop Wasonga Foundation, both domiciled in Gem constituency, promised to persuade the Ministry of Education to allow them own all school buses in the area.

Leaders of the two foundations pitched their idea to school heads drawn from Alego Usonga and Gem constituencies at a meeting at a Siaya hotel on Tuesday.

TiJi Foundation’s curator Tim Odende said secondary schools do not need buses all the time.

He said the foundation can own them and only lease them out to schools on a need basis.

“We don’t see a reason why schools should retain buses that are very costly. They (schools) could offload that as a non-core function and lease them on a need basis,” Odende said.

Under this arrangement, Odende said, schools will only pay for mileage and save on funds that often go into capital and insurance.

He said the foundation has the capacity to manage about 50 buses and be able to engrave the name of the school that needs a bus, soon as it is requested for.

However, Odende said the decision cannot be sealed with the school heads without the knowledge of the Ministry of Education.

“We are lobbying at policy front. We shall have a discussion with the ministry on how to actualise that, so that we get value for money,” he said.

The foundations also urged school heads who are hosting needy students from Gem constituency not to send them away over non-payment of fees.

"Instead, they urged school heads to share vital information with the staff of the foundation, so that the children can have access to quality education," they said.

Odende told all children from Gem not to worry as they are out to solve their school fee problems.

Sawagongo High School’s chief principal Maurice Ogutu, on behalf of the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association said fee arrears is a huge problem that hinders learning.

“It has been difficult maintaining children in our schools without fees. On behalf of Kessha, I appreciate the foundation and will ask our colleagues to give it full support," he said.

Maseno West Bishop emeritus Joseph Wasonga of the Bishop Wasonga Foundation said the mental health of students is another area that they are focusing on.

“We are partnering with Agape Counselling and Training Services for psycho-social support to students and even parents,” he said.

Wasonga said they will train peer counsellors and prefects to enable them tackle their mates problems before they explode.

TiJi Foundation has satellite offices in all the wards in Gem constituency; the main office is domiciled at at St Philip’s Mahoma, near Sawagongo – also the base of Bishop Wasonga Foundation.

The overall aim of the two foundations is to uplift the educational standards in Gem, Siaya and Kenya as a whole.

Bishop Wasonga foundation has also organised a weeklong medical camp at St Philips Mahoma, starting October 9.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)