By VINCENT MABATUK
Nakuru County: A public primary school in Rongai, Nakuru County, has been closed down indefinitely after parents and pupils protested delay in construction of classrooms.
Angry parents of Majani Mingi Primary stormed the school armed with twigs and demanded that more than 1,000 pupils return home until a lasting solution to the problem was found.
The parents complained that more than 120 children were being forced to attend lessons in one classroom after hundreds of children belonging to the families of Mau Forest evictees resettled in the area got admitted in the same school.
They also accused Rongai Education office of misusing Sh8.1 million given to the school by the Government through the Ministry of Special Programmes in April last year.
“This was to construct a new stream, administration block and 24 toilets, but only eight classrooms have been partially constructed. We just want to be told where the remaining money is,” said John Odhiambo, the school chairman.
They said no works had been going on since last July, and accused Rongai DEO Anthony Makori of not involving the school committee in the project.
Supervisor indisposed
But Mr Makori dismissed the claims, saying the project was above board. He said the project’s site supervisor was involved in an accident in November and had not recovered, leading to the stalling of the project.
They also accused the contractor of shoddy work.
“The project was supervised by engineers from public works and those not convinced are free to check our records. It is also unfair for a section of parents to claim to have been locked out while the school management committee approved payments,” said Makori.
A spot check by The Standard established up to four pupils from Class One to Standard Seven share a single desk.
They blamed the poor performance recorded by the school in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education on congestion.
The leading candidate in the school scored 286 marks and the last 98 points.
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