• Construction to reduce overcrowding and construction costs in primary and secondary schools.
• The use of affordable construction materials expected to save 20 per cent of construction costs.
Image: FILE
The government plans to end school overcrowding and dangerous construction by building 12, 500 classrooms with durable, affordable technologies.
They are expected to reduced construction costs by 20 per cent.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has pledged to construct new classrooms in two years to reduce overcrowding. They will be built with local durable materials, not mud, mabati and sticks, and they will be suited to Kenya's varied geography.
He made the pledge on November 12 during his State of the Nation address.
The Star has established the construction plan is in advanced stages and experts have identified materials to cut costs.
The materials include baked bricks, hollow bricks, interlocking bricks and expanded polystyrene panels, or EPS, for prefab construction.
Interlocking bricks are considered resistant to earthquakes.
Hollow blocks reduce the volume of concrete used, hence, the cost.
Prefab EPS also cuts down on costs of construction and labour.
During his early days in office, Education CS George Magoha blamed school heads for overpricing the cost of classroom construction, derailing efforts to expand infrastructure. Part of the inflated, unjustified cost presumably would line pockets.
In 2019, seven pupils from Precious Talent Academy in Nairobi died, while 57 others were injured after their classrooms collapsed.
The upper floor made of concrete caved in and collapsed on the pupils who were in the lower classrooms.
If the construction project succeeds, it make schools safer and greatly decongest classes that are expanding with the policy of 100 per cent transition.
Traditionally, schools have used stones in both urban an rural areas. Some institutions have been forced to use iron sheets, timber and even mud to build classrooms.
The headteachers' caucus has proposed that the cost of school building materials be subsidised.
Indimuli Kahi, the Kenya Secondary School Association chairman, says construction costs have been pushed up by the tax on building materials such as paint, cement, iron sheets and other items.
“The cost of building products remains high because of taxes. Relief will mean a reduction in construction costs," Kahi told the Star on the phone.
The use of semi-permanent materials, such as iron and wood, has been discouraged - as has mud.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris