Parents in Mombasa county's Miritini, Jomvu constituency, are breathing a sigh of relief as their children no longer have to walk long distances to Kinango in Kwale county for education.
The parents said their children no longer have to cross two dangerous roads to get to school either.
This is due to the construction of more public schools in the area.
Miritini Parents Network chairperson Joyce Racheal Muleri said this relieves parents of the burden that mushrooming private schools put on them.
She said most of the private schools are substandard and demanded money from parents almost every week.
“Before 2013, Miritini Primary was the only public school in this area. This forced us to look for schools as far as Kinango which is in another county,” Muleri said.
She spoke during the laying ground ceremony for the construction of Maganda Primary School in Miritini ward on Sunday.
“Every week, children were asked to take some money to school for very many things,” she said.
She said there were accidents where children would be hit while they crossed two roads to Kinango.
However, the Jomvu NG-CDF in partnership with Kenya National Highways Authority addressed this by putting up two footbridges.
The CDF also helped put up Miritini Complex High school, the first public secondary school in the ward, which started with 14 students but now has 620.
Jomvu MP Badi Twalib said the area had been neglected for a long time.
“We had to sit down with various stakeholders to see how best we could salvage the situation," the MP said during the ceremony on Sunday.
“Children had to walk long distances to Mwamdudu Primary is in Kinango constituency. Construction of this new primary school will put a stop to that,” he said.
Maganda will now be the second public primary school and the third pubic school in the area.
Jomvu assistant county commissioner Irene Jeptum said the best gift a parent and leaders can give to their children is education.
The Jomvu NG-CDF has allocated Sh12 million to start the construction of the school.
Twalib said every year, the Jomvu NG-CDF team will be allocating some funds until the school is completed.
“After the completion of the school, we hope to start another secondary school."
He lauded Education CS George Magoha for the radical steps in ensuring the KCPE results are released in good time.
He said this gives parents ample time to look for school fees.
“With the early release of results, parents know how to spend during the Christmas holiday,” Twalib said.
However, he called on the National Treasury to allocate the Education ministry more funds to fund the development of infrastructure in schools to cope with the number of students.
The 100 per cent transition policy has seen some secondary schools overwhelmed because of the upsurge in student numbers.
Edited by R.Wamochie