Kitengela residents in Kajiado County have called on the government to build more public schools with the town having only four public schools despite having a population of 154,436 people.
The current four public schools are fully occupied making it a problem for learners and parents alike.
The four schools include Utumishi Primary School, G.K. Prisons, Magereza and the recently Commissioned Dr. Likimani Primary School are not able to handle the huge numbers of learners who are yearning for education.
Due to the few number of public schools, private schools have sprung up in the area that charge exorbitant charges of school fees making them either a burden on parents or outright unaffordable.
As a result, some parents have resorted to transporting their children to the neighbouring Machakos County to ensure their children are able to attend school.
“I was forced to send my child to Athi River Primary School because public schools here are either too far away or overcrowded,” said one of the residents.
Another parent who opted to be anonymous with a learner at G.K. Prisons primary school said that the school is located far from the town centre and called on the government to establish a school that is closer to the town centre because many parents cannot afford private schools located in the area.
“It is sad seeing children stay at home when others are in school due to lack of school fees given the tough economic times and public schools being too far from where many residents live. As a parent, I am lucky that I can afford to pay Kshs. 100 per day for a Boda Boda ride to school. Other parents would rather spend such an amount on more basic needs,” said the parent.
Stakeholders from private schools located in the area have also asked the government to construct more schools.
The preliminary assessment issued by the UNESCO Insitute for Statistics (UIS) and the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) covering Sub-Saharan Africa has revealed that 1.8 million Kenyan Children of age between 6 and 18 who are supposed to be in school have either decided to drop out or never been in school at all, despite the free primary and subsidized secondary education policy by the Kenyan government.