A school in Meru has received a Sh10 million grant from the Japanese government to help build a two-storey dormitory, following a marked improvement in discipline and academics.
Burieruri High in the miraa belt of Igembe Central got the money from a Japanese grassroots assistance programme to help accommodate more students.
Igembe Central NG-CDF also gave an additional Sh6 million for the project at the school, whose student population had tripled in four years.
The dormitory will accommodate 400 students.
Principal Moshe Musyoka said the number of students had increased from 400 in 2018 to 1,200.
Speaking during a groundbreaking ceremony, Japan’s deputy ambassador to Kenya, Yosuhisa Kitagawa, said they were impressed by the school’s improvement in discipline, academic performance and tree planting.
Burieruri has recorded a remarkable comeback, registering a mean score of 7.2 in the 2020 KCSE, up from 4.5 points in 2018.
“[We] were impressed by the performance the school is showing. That is one of the reasons we came here. Discipline, punctuality and commitment are the ones that create a better learning environment and thus great result,” said the envoy.
He also hailed the school for planting trees, saying it inculcated care for the environment among the youngsters.
Nairobi County Commissioner Flora Mworoa, who is also the school’s BOM chairperson, urged parents in the miraa-growing area to focus on education, especially for boys.
Igembe Central MP Kubai Kiringo hailed the assistance and appealed to other development partners to help improve school infrastructure, most of which were in a poor state.
He also proposed that parents voluntarily chip in to help build schools, adding that the money allocated through NG-CDF was not enough to build good classrooms.
“Most of the about 100 primary and 46 secondary schools in the constituency are in a sorry state. We used to pay the building fund but are no longer being charged. That is little money. I would urge parents to utilise part of the little money they get to pay fees for their children so that they get better resources,” the MP appealed.
Mr Musyoka said the school focused on restoring discipline and inculcating hard-work ethics, a positive change from when it was associated with strikes.
“We have formed the Burieruri Defence Force, made up of former students that have been mentoring the boys. We have not experienced any incident of indiscipline, this is a positive mark,” he said. BY DAILY NATION