SCHOOL THEFT ON THE RISE AS KNUT DEMANDS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF FUNDS TO SECURE GOVERNMENT PROPERTY
KNUT union officials in Kakamega County have petitioned the education ministry to release free primary and secondary education funds to enable schools to carry on with their activities.
This follows alarming reports of theft cases in schools and the inability of schools to go about their usual activities smoothly.
According to Mr. Chungani, KNUT chair, Kakamega branch, some schools in Kakamega East Sub County had been broken into and several items including computers stolen.
Lirhanda Girls High School and Malone Primary School are counting losses after thieves made away with several items.
“School property is at stake since the guards hired by the institutions and other support staff have not been paid after schools wereclosed in March following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic,” said the union officials.
They therefore called upon the Ministry of Education to address the matter urgently lest school property continues to be vandalized.
“This is a matter the Ministry needs to address urgently to ensure school property is safeguarded,” said Mr. Chungani Patrick, the chair, KNUT Kakamega Branch.
Besides paying subordinate staff, the union said that schools need the 30% capitation to go about their normal operations such as filing returns, travel, electricity bill, water bills and conservancy.
This comes at a time when there is a lot of uncertainty in the education sector after CS Magoha’s announcement on Tuesday that the 2020 academic year will be considered lost and hence written off.
BOM AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS’ TEACHERS
Meanwhile, teachers employed by school management boards continue to languish after going without salaries for over three months now.
Last month, there were reports of some BOM teachers leading a dog’s life while some resorted to illicit acts such as shoplifting to survive. A female BOM teacher was arrested in Kisumu after trying to shoplift in a supermarket.
With schools now likely to be closed for the next six months, life is likely to become tougher for the teachers if the Government does not release 30% of the free education funds.
The sad part of it all is the fact that no one seems to take note of these teachers’ predicament.
Last month, CS Magoha was summoned to appear before the national assembly education committee to explain the delay in the release of the funds.
To date, there has never been a follow up on the release of the funds. Furthermore, yesterday the CS remained mum on the issue of BOM and private school teachers’ salaries.
