Embakasi Central MP Mejjadonk Mwangi Gathiru has decried skewed allocation of funds for infrastructure development in junior secondary schools.
Making a statement in the House on Wednesday, the MP said it is disturbing to note that the formula used for allocation of funds has used Grade 7 enrolment levels as the only parameter.
“The other parameter could include the cost of construction, which is a key component in the utilisation of the funds especially in urban constituencies,” he explained.
He added that in urban constituencies, construction cost is higher due to space constraints in schools located in cities, with schools having to build storey classrooms that are more expensive.
“Furthermore, it is important to point out that most learners in urban set-ups are in private schools not by choice, but due to lack of space in few available public schools,” Gathiru added.
He said there is further need for more funding to ensure pupils in urban areas and cities access public schools.
“Mr Speaker, should the formula be applied as proposed, the allocation may fail to pass the equity test and the outcome will be disadvantageous to some schools,” he stressed.
Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung’wah said the state must not be seen to be punishing MPs who have invested a lot of resources in building infrastructure for schools in their constituencies.
“In fact, it should be the other way around; we should have an incentive for MPs to allocate more resources towards the building of school infrastructure,” he added.
Ichung’wah requested the Departmental Committee on Education to give the House a reasoned and well considered report after their engagements with other stakeholders in the education sector including the Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu.
On October 4, 2023, the chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Education Julius Melly, informed the House that the National Treasury allocated the State Department for Basic Education Sh3.379 billion in the current Financial Year 2023-24 for construction of classrooms and integrated learning resource centres for junior schools.
In the statement, the chairperson notified this House that the allocation was to be jointly managed by the State Department for Basic Education and the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), with each constituency matching allocation from the ministry.
Attached to the statement was a letter dated October 3, 2023 from the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Basic Education Belio Kipsang addressed to the NG-CDF board containing a schedule indicating the amount allocated to each constituency.
According to the schedule, the allocation is based on the Grade 7 enrolment per constituency.
“However, it is on record that the data on Grade 7 enrolment, which has been applied to apportion the funds, is inaccurate and not a true reflection of enrolment levels in most of the urban constituencies including Embakasi Central Constituency,” Gathiru said.
He further said the data on the number of public schools is inaccurate.