Mudavadi: Government to increase number of public schools

By Peter Ochieng

The government is planning to build more schools, in a move aimed at tackling the high number of learners across the country.

According to Prime Cabinet Secretary (PCS) and CS for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi, the number of both public primary and secondary schools currently is way below the number of learners they are supposed to accommodate.

“We need to look for ways of investing more in public schools across the country. When you look at the statistics, the public schools are very few, yet a lot of pressure is mounted on them to absorb numbers that they can’t manage," said Mudavadi.

He spoke at St. George's Primary School in Nairobi, while monitoring the start of the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) exams.

The former Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged the major role played by private schools, in accommodating learners across the nation.

“We appreciate the role being played by the private schools in the country. What we should be looking at is how to create that synergy between the public and the private sectors in education.” he added.

He said education is among the best funded sectors in the country.

"The government injected up to Sh600 billion in the education sector in the 2023/2024 budget, being one of the highest allocation to a single sector in the recent past. This shows how serious the government is taking matters education.”

A total of 1, 202, 574 candidates are sitting for KPSEA, while 1, 415, 315 are sitting for KCPE exams.

"The government, through a multi-agency team spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, is working tirelessly to ensure the integrity of the 2023 KCSE, KCPE and KPSEA examinations is upheld," said Mudavadi.

He stated that the fture of the candidates sitting for exams call for close partnerships within key sectors of education, to ensure seamless flow throughout the examination period.