Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has expressed his commitment
to ensuring that learners in informal schools benefit from the county’s
flagship school feeding programme, Dishi na County, even as he cited financial
and infrastructural limitations as key obstacles slowing down the initiative’s
expansion.
Appearing before the Senate Education Committee at Bunge
Tower, Sakaja said the county government is developing a plan to integrate
informal schools into the programme, starting with nearby public schools that
already have central kitchens.
This, he said, will
allow children from informal learning institutions to access meals during
lunchtime.
“In the 230 public schools we have in Nairobi, we operate 17 central kitchens that currently feed 316,000 learners. To include all informal schools, we would need 69 more kitchens. It’s a budget issue,” Sakaja told the committee.
“As we work on that, we’ve identified nearby public schools
where children from informal schools can go during lunch to have a meal.”
The governor acknowledged that fully extending the programme
to informal schools would require a significant financial investment, both in
terms of infrastructure and operational costs.
“If it were up to me, every single child in Nairobi would be
on Dishi na County, including those in informal schools,” he said.
Launched by the Nairobi City County Government in 2023,
Dishi na County provides daily nutritious meals to learners in public primary
and Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres across the city.
The initiative has been credited with boosting school
attendance, retention, and concentration among children in low-income areas.
However, senators pressed the governor to explain how his
administration intends to reach the thousands of children in informal
settlements who are yet to benefit from the programme.
The lawmakers noted that informal schools, which serve a
large proportion of Nairobi’s school-going population, remain outside the
official feeding framework despite their critical role in basic education.
Governor Sakaja assured the committee that plans are
underway to progressively expand the initiative. “We are looking at both
public-private partnerships and community-driven models that can help us scale
up faster. Feeding our children is not just a social welfare issue; it’s an
investment in the future of this city,” he said.
Sakaja also used the opportunity to highlight broader
challenges facing the education sector in Nairobi, including limited public
school spaces and growing demand for bursaries.
“The 210 public schools we have cannot meet the demand of a
population exceeding seven million people,” he said.
“Getting land for new
schools is a major challenge because it’s scarce and expensive. Despite this,
the county is building 1,500 ECDE classrooms, while the national government is
constructing 5,000 more to help bridge the gap.”
He called for affirmative action to increase the number of
public schools, saying the existing institutions are “far from adequate” to
meet the educational needs of Nairobi’s rapidly expanding population.
Sakaja reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to
equitable access to education and nutrition, noting that partnerships between
national and county governments, development agencies, and the private sector
will be critical to sustaining the Dishi na County programme.
“Our goal is simple,” he said in conclusion.
“No child in Nairobi
should go to school hungry, and no child should be left behind because of where
they learn.”
