- She was speaking in Kakamega during a technical mission visit to assess the progress and quality of the construction works.
- The county will benefit from 46 classrooms, 42 science laboratories, 94 sanitation facilities and 2 water packages.
Image: GEORGE WAMBUA
Secondary schools in 135 subcounties are set to get new 859 science laboratories by February next year.
The construction will be funded by the Ministry of Education in partnership with the World Bank.
National coordinator for the Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project (SEQIP) Jane Mbugua said that the intervention aims at improving learning outcomes in science subjects.
She was speaking in Kakamega during a technical mission visit to assess the progress and quality of the construction works.
The members of the Mission visited Bomet, Narok, Bungoma and Kakamega counties to establish the status of the infrastructural improvements in the targeted schools.
The counties are part of the 30 counties in Arid and Semi-Arid and marginalised areas in the country.
Jane Mbugua said “Most learners experience lab situations only during examination periods hence they do not perform well in practical tests”
The laboratories are part of a Sh8.2 billion infrastructure project targeting schools in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, urban informal settlements and marginalised communities.
In Kakamega county, six subcounties of Butere, Kwhisero, Likuyani, Lugari, Navakholo and Kakamega South will benefit from 103 classrooms, 125 laboratories and 102 sanitation facilities for primary schools and 7 water packages for special needs institutions.
According to Dama Services, the lead design consultant for the project, 45 classrooms and 5 water packages in Kakamega county are complete and ready for handing over while 33 laboratories out of the 125 under construction are almost finished.
Kakamega county director of Education Dickson Mugoya said that the classrooms will improve the learning environment for learners by decongesting classes that are already overstretched while the laboratories will promote the uptake of science subjects in line with Vision 2030.
Kakamega is one of the leading counties in the delivery of the project with a progress record of 75 percent.
Other than infrastructure, the project also supports teacher training, gender sensitization and advocacy programmes, provision of textbooks and professional scholarship.
Bungoma county director of Education Philip Chirchir said that the project has improved enrolment of learners to secondary schools hence transition and retention.
However, he noted that the county is prone to Gender Based and Sexual Violence hence the need to provide boarding facilities to protect school going young girls from teen pregnancies and early marriages.
The county will benefit from 46 classrooms, 42 science laboratories, 94 sanitation facilities and 2 water packages.
All the classrooms will be furnished with fifty desks and chairs for learners upon completion a teacher’s locker and seat.