CBC classroom contractors to get Sh3.2bn payment direct in M-Pesa accounts

The government has released Sh3.2 billion for the payment of completed Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) classrooms across the country.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said the funds will be dispatched directly to M-Pesa accounts of the contractors as a way of ensuring transparency.

“This is a warning to some Ministry of Education officials, who may want to put some bottlenecks, that stern action will be taken against them,” he said yesterday after commissioning a classroom at St Cecilia Aluor Girls Secondary School in Gem, Siaya County.

He said about 1,000 classrooms constructed under the infrastructure development programme, which was launched last October, have been completed, while another 2,000 are at the roofing level, with construction of only 50 yet to start.

Prof Magoha further noted that they are on course to finishing the first phase of junior secondary schools before the start of national exams next month.

“The Ministry of Education will roll out the second phase of construction of the classrooms in April, immediately after the national exams,” he said.

The programme was initiated by the government to create space for students who will be joining junior secondary schools in January next year.

Under the new curriculum, learners will spend two years in pre-primary, six years in primary, three years in junior secondary, three years in senior secondary and at least three years at the higher education level (2:6:3:3:3).

Prof Magoha said the government has already delivered 75 per cent of textbooks to secondary schools and the remaining ones will be distributed by month-end.

The CS also revealed that the process of purchasing books for grades s ix and seven is ongoing.

He noted that over 330,000 teachers have already been trained to ensure a smooth roll-out of the curriculum.

“However, this is going to be a continuous process,” he said.