Nairobi — Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang says the government is considering the shift system of learning amid concerns over the construction of Grade 9 classrooms.
Speaking while leading a multi-agency assessment exercise of Grade classrooms in some parts of Nairobi, Kipsang said the proposal will allow two groups of students to use the same buildings, equipment, and other resources, with the only difference being their availability.
He explained that the main idea behind double-shift system is to increase the supply of school places while limiting the strain on the budget.
"We are going to have short term mitigating solutions to be able to give us time to finalize on any schools that we are putting up a classroom," Kipsang said.
"In some situations, even where the congestions might not allow, we can have a multi shift within the time where when there is a class that is having outdoor activities then within that time that group can be optimized to disrupt learning."
The Education PS added that the Ministry says they have been working round-the-clock to ensure contractors hand over all 16,000 classrooms by February.
He pointed out that already 3,000 classrooms have already been constructed with the help of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) which he said are ready and available for use.
He added that another 2,000 classrooms are at various levels of development.
He added that the Ministry of Education has already constructed 10,500 classrooms of the targeted 11,000.
"We can say confidently that today we have 13,500 classrooms which are ready for our children across the country," Kipsang said.
Commenting on the reports of shortage of books, PS Kipsang disclosed that the Ministry has distributed 9.9 million books to the schools in the nine learning areas.
Kipsang noted that the country now has more than 80,00 teachers who can teach on Grade 9.
He however acknowledged that the numbers are still insufficient to cover the entire country.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The Education PS further noted that the Teachers Service Commission has confirmed issuing posting letters to 20,000 teachers, while 46,000 intern teachers were converted to permanent and pensionable terms.
About The Author
Bruhan Makong reports on security, human rights, and global affairs. He is passionate about uncovering the truth, amplifying the voices often drowned in silence, and holding those in power to account.
