Confusion has engulfed the payment of more than Sh7.8 billion owed to contractors who built 10,000 classrooms for the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) following President William Ruto’s announcement to form a task force on the education system. Local Directors of Education are now feeling the heat of the government’s delay to pay the contractors who have been under pressure from Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha to finish work before the end of this month ahead of the first intake into Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) next year.

Though the Ministry of Education yesterday moved to assure the contractors that their issue is being handled at high levels, uncertainty shrouded the payment process with questions emerging on whether the government would honour the agreement in the wake of plans to form a task force whose report would determine the fate of CBC.

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The contractors were supposed to have been paid in May, but the government pushed the payments to be made after the end of the 2021/2022 financial year. Ruto taskforce Sources intimated to People Daily that certain forces within government are pushing to have the payments shelved until the time the fate of CBC is determined by the proposed task force. Should that happen, then contractors should brace themselves to wait for a longer time that could run into months, before their payments could be effected.

During his inauguration, Ruto promised to form a task force to collate views from Kenyans and education stakeholders to determine whether to disband or retain CBC with some modifications. Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan, while conceding to the delay in the payments due to some logistics related to the “ongoing transition”, his ministry has already engaged the National Treasury over the matter. “The payments have been delayed because of the logistics of political transition but we are engaging the Treasury to ensure that they are paid as soon as possible. We plead with them to be a bit patient as we get this sorted out,” Jwan said.

Jwan assured contractors that the “top brass in the government” is fully seized of the matter and is doing everything possible to ensure the payment is effected as soon as possible and asked Kenyans not to read too much politics into it. But some of the contractors who talked to People Daily accused the government of playing a “ping-pong game” with them over the payments. We wonder how the payments have been delayed by the political transition in government when the project was fully planned and budgeted for. Have they just realised now that the contractors were supposed to be paid?” asked David Anami, one of the contractors based in Kakamega who is demanding pay for ten classrooms.

Anami says the delay has caused immense suffering to some of his colleagues with a number of them facing threats from auctioneers while others have not paid their staff salaries and operation bills. Junior secondary The matter has been compounded further by President Ruto’s directive to ministries, State departments and agencies not to effect payments of more than Sh50 million without the approval of the National Treasury, a directive intended to stop a last-minute spending spree by outgoing officials.

The government had earmarked to construct at least 10,000 classrooms by end of last month to ease congestion in readiness for the anticipated double intake next year when more than 1.5 million Grade Six learners are expected to join JSS and an additional 1.5 million from Standard Eight join Form One. President Uhuru Kenyatta had last year directed the National Treasury to make available Sh8.1 billion for the project to support the primary to secondary school shift in the CBC

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha says construction of the second phase of Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) classrooms will start this week.
The first batch of CBC classrooms is nearly complete, he added, as the Government is racing against time to ensure seamless transition of Grade Six learners to Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) next year.
The first phase involved construction of 6,497 classrooms. An additional 3,500 will be
done in the next phase.
The CS said the government has delivered the CBC classrooms at a record time to ensure the transition time-lines are met.
“As far as the CBC classrooms are concerned, we have done extremely well, especially in public schools. The work is 98 per cent compete and we expect it to be finalised by mid this week,” he said.
The national government had intended to construct 10,000 CBC classrooms under the schools infrastructural development programme to facilitate its 100 per cent transition policy to secondary schools.

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The new classrooms were to cost Sh8 billion. Their construction began last November and was expected to conclude by March. The initial deadline was March 7 but it was extended to March 11.
Magoha expressed optimism that the project shall be completed in good time to ease an expected congestion crisis.
“By the time we hand over at the end of the current administration in August, the Ministry of Education shall have delivered the 10,000 CBC classrooms as promised by President Uhuru Kenyatta,” he added.

Speaking during the inspection of CBC classrooms at Golden Elites Academy in
Kisumu at the weekend, the minister said private schools have already constructed 1,200 classrooms with an additional 5,000 to be ready by July.
“The numbers in our private schools are equally encouraging. This has created extra space for us. The government will facilitate registration of these new schools,” he added.
Amid growing concerns, especially from education stakeholders, over the government’s preparedness on the junior secondary school transition, the CS said that necessary structures were being put in place to ensure the process is seamless.
Flanked by Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA) National Chairman Charles Ochome, Magoha said public and private secondary schools are ready to host the first batch of CBC students as they prepare to transit to junior secondary school next year.
Pioneer CBC learners will sit their final tests this December, alongside the 2022 KCPE and KCSE students, setting the stage for transition to junior secondary in January.
“Our beloved children who are in grade six have their examination ready. As to how they are going to transit into junior secondary, that is being worked on. Sooner rather than later, definitely before we leave office, we shall leave a clear pathway on the transition process to junior secondary schools,” the CS explained.
He told off critics of the new education system, saying there is no turning back in implementation of educational reforms that have faced opposition from many stakeholders.
According to Magoha, it will be impractical to scrap off CBC since the government has pumped in a lot of money to the education sector to fund the new curriculum.
“I want to tell these people that the CBC is here to stay. If in future they want to change it, they must give us a credible alternative and how it is going to be manned,” Magoha said.
At the same time, he warned politicians against politicising the curriculum, as that is unhealthy for the education sector.
He added: “Let us shun cheap talk and toxic politics on CBC. Don’t confuse our children and parents.”

The construction of additional classrooms in preparation for the junior secondary school roll out under the new competency-based curriculum (CBC) as directed by the president has currently stalled since a section of the contractors have ignored the projects due to underfunding despite the increased cost of construction materials.

According to the Principals and contractors, the funds which the state allocated in the first phase were insufficient, a situation which would complicate implementation in phase two.

“The amount was not enough to complete a standard classroom as required by the Ministry of Education. The CBC classroom design is very expensive,” a contractor revealed.

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The ministry of education had fixed the cost of constructing a single classroom at ksh. 788,000, from the previous cost of ksh1.2 million recommended by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“The materials are costly and not all of them are locally available, like steel and building stones, which must be machine-dressed. Only the ballast is locally available and some quarries are as far as 40km. This incurs more transport costs,” he said.

Some contractors revealed that they are yet to receive phase one payment, and this could cause delays in the implementation of second phase.  Other contractors fear that the project might end when a new government takes over after the election.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha had earlier confirmed that the ministry has plans of constructing a total of 10,000 classrooms by the end of July. So far however, only 6,495 have been completed.

In Molo sub-county, construction is yet to start, with principals saying adding one or two classrooms in every school will not be enough to alleviate the shortage of infrastructure.

Contractors in Samburu County, said they are strained financially.

“Most classrooms within Maralal and Samburu Central area are complete because it’s less costly, unlike in Samburu North and East. In my own view, the government should have increased the amount to at least Sh1 million per classroom,” said a contractor who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.

“I declined to take up (work) in Samburu North because if you calculate well, you will find that you will dig into your pockets to finance the construction,” he added.

In Vihiga County, only three out of 105 classrooms are incomplete. County education director Hellen Nyang’au said the second phase will target the remaining schools.

About 200 classrooms in the Rift Valley are yet to be completed. So far, only 1,505 classrooms out of the 1,737 classrooms have been completed. The region’s director of education Jared Obiero said: “Nandi and Bomet have attained 100 per cent completion with Turkana, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia ,Uasin Gishu ,Laikipia, Nakuru, Kajiado and Samburu at 80 per cent.”

Laikipia County Commissioner Joseph Kanyiri said some contractors, especially in Laikipia North, which was hard hit by drought, were forced to ferry water from other parts of the county to ensure they delivert on time.

In Narok County about 108 of the 125 classrooms have so far been completed. County commissioner Isaac Masinde said: “We have some contractors who applied for the tender but had no financial capacity.”  The administrator issued a two-week notice to the affected contractors to either finish the projects or their contractors would be terminated.

A senior teacher at Mulaha Secondary School in Siaya County, who requested anonymity, said the contractor stopped working two months ago.

In Kisumu County, all the 159 classrooms have been put up, but some of the schools had to dig into their pockets for extra cash to facilitate completion. County director of education Peter Munene said: “We advised schools to collaborate with the contractors by offering the necessary financial support.”

Ombaka Secondary School principal James Momanyi said the CBC classroom allocated to his school can barely hold a quarter of the expected population. The school located in Nyando sub-county expects to admit most of the learners from the neighbouring primary schools.

“We are looking forward to construction of more classrooms next year,” he said.

In Homa Bay County, 211 of the 252 classrooms have been completed. County Commissioner Moses Lilan said the remaining classrooms will be handed over in the coming weeks. The government had initially planned to put up 293 classrooms in the county.

“Delivery of materials was also a main concern especially to the islands. The cost of transportation was a bit high,” Mr Lilan said.

Some 242 classrooms had been completed in Kisii County by last week. The county was allocated 243 classrooms.

In Murang’a County, Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi said the Sh788,000 blanket ceiling is limiting quality.

“This programme was supposed to be an economic stimulus to promote local contractors. But it has become a source of contractual headache,” he said. A report by the county government projects coordination committee put abandonment of CBC projects at 25 per cent by the end of February.

In the central region, Murang’a leads at 99 per cent completion, with 219 classrooms completed, followed by Kiambu at 98 per cent with 186 classrooms and Kirinyaga at 92 per cent with 101 classrooms.The regional director of education Milton Nzioki had earlier on revealed that there have been only a few cases of stalemates due to shortage of funds.

“This has been caused by contractors who had taken many classrooms but were unable to complete the construction midway because of insufficient funds,” he said.

Kirinyaga Central deputy county commissioner Daniel Ndege commended the contractors saying the “government is determined to fully implement the new education system”.

A number of teachers and unionists have accused the government of not being adequately prepared ahead of the rollout next year.

Laikipia Kenya post primary education teachers union executive secretary Robert Miano said the government had not fully equipped schools with the necessary resources.

“In my view, the government has not allocated enough of the budget towards the programme. Construction of classrooms in a few schools will bring confusion in the rollout of the programme next year,” he said.

Secondary schools may have to use Competency-Based Curriculum classrooms even before Grade Seven learners transition next year.

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association Chairman Kahi Indimuli yesterday warned of enormous challenges facing secondary schools as they prepare for Form One admission next month given an even higher number of learners expected to join.

“Normally, there are challenges with new admissions because every year the number of learners from primary school has been rising. Like now, we have 1.2 million candidates and the number of places currently available is about 880,000 created by those who left Form Four,” said Indimuli.

“Even though the classrooms that the government is building are meant for CBC, they will have to be used for now,” he added. He was speaking during the release of Form One placement results on Monday.

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At least 6,000 CBC classrooms have been constructed in the first phase, with the ministry expected to reach the 10,000 target following an allocation of Sh4 billion in the 2022/23 Financial Year.

Even though the ministry insists it has been providing funds for infrastructure development, schools still have to contend with high population of learners.According to the ministry, the National Treasury allocated Sh4.2 billion for infrastructure development in public primary and secondary schools this financial year to be used to ease the strain on facilities due to the increased enrollment.

But Indimuli said the infrastructure challenge is further compounded by non-payment of fees that has seen accumulation of arrears.Indimuli said they would seek audience with Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha to make their case on the tough conditions schools are operating in.

He said that everyone was affected by Covid-19 pandemic but there were no deliberate measures to cushion schools in the hard economic times the country is experiencing.“Principals are also parents and are happy about the cushion put by Government but as heads of schools, they were not cushioned to support them with challenges they are facing,” he explained.

Even though principals will follow the ministry directive that directed them not to send learners home over fees, Indimuli regretted that even parents who are able to pay take advantage of the situation.“Even able parents take it that since no child is sent home, they do not pay.

Schools then have accumulated debts for suppliers and parents too have arrears,” he said.Kahi Indimuli says as a result learning institutions may be forced to use CBC

Education Cabinet Secretary,Prof.George Magoha,has expressed displeasure over what he terms as slow pace in construction of CBC classrooms in some counties.

Magoha said the slow progress in the classrooms construction hampers the national drive to have the facilities completed ahead of next year’s rollover to junior secondary schools.
Speaking at Singore Girls during the routine checks,Magoha said the government is doing all that is possible to have the classes done. He asked the county coordinators to speed up their work in pushing contractors expedite the construction.

“The progress in this county is wanting. The inactivity in all the process is here at Iten. Much has to be done,”he remarked, referring to Elgeyo Marakwet County.

The CS said the government is determined in ensuring all parts of the country have enough facilities for the new curriculum to be successful an promote equality among learners in the county.

He singled out Kerio Valley region within the county which has been witnessing banditry attacks with the CS saying government efforts have been drained to have the classrooms constructed.

“The government of Kenya has currently constituted shall make sure that every classroom is build”, tough talking Magoha said.He added that the government may use the army to build the classes in the conflict prone areas.

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He said only one classroom has been constructed in the entire region.
At the same time, Magoha said form selection has been concluded urging parents to accept the schools that their children have been selected to join. Saying not all learners with over 400 marks will be placed in National schools, Magoha called on the parents to be contented with the selection process.

He notes“what I want to tell the parents is that my job is to ensure that the 1 million learners who sat for the exam are placed and secondly national schools are schools which meant to have national character and we have done our best to place the deserving students.”