Ministry of
Education has confirmed the release of Sh18.8 billion for the construction of 16000 Junior Secondary School classrooms for Grade 9 learners to ensure an easy transition.
CS Education Julius Ogamba said the government is prepared and committed to meet its obligations and the money is allocated for the construction of Grade 9 classrooms in Primary schools.
The CS spoke at St Paul Primary School in Athi River Machakos County on Thursday, October 3, 2024, as he inspected the ongoing construction of JSS classrooms for Grade 9.
He emphasised the importance of completing the classes by January 2025.
“We are supposed to construct 16,000 classrooms and we have released money for all of them to ensure by January we have all the classes ready,” Ogamba said.
He said they are collaborating with the NG-CDF in funding for the classrooms and out of the Sh18.8 billion, the NG-CDF is funding Sh7.8 billion for 5,000 classes while Sh11 billion is coming from MoE to construct the 11,000 classes.
Ogamba said their cooperation will ensure JSS classes are complete by January 2025 and there will be no duplicity in the construction of classes in the same school since NG-CDF will not construct classes where the Ministry has already constructed.
“We are collaborating with NG-CDF and sharing data to ensure there is no duplicity in construction of classes,” Ogamba said.
He said the distribution of books will commence on October 22, and by December 15, 2024, all books will have been distributed.
Ogamba said more than 66,000 teachers have been retooled for JSS and more are expected in December in readiness for the January intake.
He said they have plans to construct laboratories and libraries from 2025 to ensure students are well-equipped to transition to Senior school.