The construction of classrooms in preparation for the rollout of junior secondary school under the competency-based curriculum (CBC) next year has hit a stalemate as some contractors abandon the projects citing the high cost of construction materials and underfunding.
Speaking to the media, Principals and Contractors revealed that funds allocated in phase one were not enough as the CBC classroom design is expensive and this would in turn complicate the situation in phase two.
Contractors further said the materials are costly and not all of them are locally available, adding some quarries are as far as 40km incurring more transportation costs.
The government set the cost of constructing one classroom at Sh788, 000, a huge reduction from the Sh1.2 million previously used as a guideline by the Ministry of Education on recommendation from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Some contractors alleged that they have not been paid for phase one, which they said could cause delays in the second phase while others expressed fear that the project might end when a new government takes over after the election.
According to Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, the ministry plans to construct a total of 10,000 classrooms by the end of July. However, only 6,495 have been completed so far.