Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha on Thursday, August 20, asked parents and teachers to voluntarily donate funds to schools.
Magoha was speaking at Bungoma Primary School in Kanduyi where he was on a tour to assess the preparedness of are institutions ahead of the planned January re-opening.
The CS noted that the government was stepping up on improving infrastructure by building more classes through the Kazi Mtaani program and the Ministry of Interior as he asked parents to donate towards the course.
Education CS George Magoha visiting a school in 2019.
“I’m also challenging the PTA, it is very clear, the constitution says, it is a child’s right to have primary education free of charge, yes we accept and we want to comply with that constitutional provision.
“That same Constitution does not stop parents who are voluntarily willing to walk with us in this process,” noted the Cabinet Secretary.
Magoha gave an example of the school he was visiting where 3,000 students are forced to eat in the open due to lack of a dining hall.
The former Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) Chairman noted that he was scheduled to have a meeting with Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi to allocate funds to build more classrooms in the school.
The CS, later on, visited Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) and urged leaders in the institution to refrain from politics and touched on the salary of teachers.
“What I am going to ask the MMUST fraternity is to stop the petty politics which actually account for nothing. This is an excellent academic institution.
“The funds were not reversed, I was given a job by his Excellency the President, he must have had some reason why out of the 45 million Kenyans, he thought I had something to add. One of the things I add is to ensure that money is prudently used for the purpose it was required,” he explained.
Magoha on Wednesday, August 19, revealed that only President Uhuru Kenyatta had the powers to dictate when schools would reopen.
