Owners of unregistered private schools in Muhoroni subcounty have been directed to register or shut them down.
Muhoroni subcounty education director Samuel Owinyi said it was illegal to operate an unregistered school in Kenya.
He asked those with schools that are not registered to visit subcounty education offices for advice and subsequent registration.
There are 16 unregistered private primary schools and one public primary school in the subcounty.
He said the schools are exposing learners to quacks who are not registered with the Teachers Service Commission.
“Follow the laid down procedures when starting and registering schools as set out by the Ministry of Education,” he said.
Owinyi said unregistered schools are disadvantageous to learners as they miss government services.
“We are urging owners of unregistered private schools to follow proper procedures to get the facility registered as envisaged in the law,” he said.
Owinyi directed the schools to swiftly start the registration process before the end of the term.
“We have given them till the end of this term. By next term in April we shall move in and close them if they have not initiated the registration exercise,” he said.
The director said unregistered schools are making learners miss the government support such as capitation.
He added that such children will also not be listed on the National Education Management Information System.
The NEMIS is aimed at streamlining the data management for informed decision-making and planning in the education sector.
“You either register or shut down such schools instead of ruining the lives of children,” Owinyi said.
"We cannot sit and allow Kenyan children to miss government initiatives in the education sector because you’ve refused to obey the law.”
Owinyi said there are 109 public and 32 registered private primary schools in the subcounty.
There are also 34 public and four registered private secondary schools.
The educationist called for speedy completion of Competency Based Curriculum classrooms for smooth transition.
In Muhoroni, 52 CBC classrooms are expected to be constructed in public secondary schools with 24 in phase one of the project.
Under phase one, he said, the classrooms were to be completed by the end of this month but this would not be achieved due to lack of capacity by some local contractors.
Owinyi, however, raised concerns that some local contractors do not have the capacity to build CBC classes to completion.
“Most of the contractors have no capacity. We are appealing to local leadership to support them to enable them to complete the classes on time,” he said.
On examinations, Owinyi said exams will be undertaken twice in March to April for KCPE and KCSE exams and November to December for current Form 3 and Standard 7 learners. They will only have six months to prepare for the exams.
“We need to make learners aware of the tight schedule and motivate them to focus and commit to their studies,” Owinyi said.
He lauded Muhoroni MP Onyango Koyoo for supporting the education sector, saying he values the education of children.
Edited by A.N