The government of Kenya has announced plans to construct 12,500 classes using durable affordable technologies with the aim of reducing construction costs by 20%.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has pledged to construct new classrooms in two years to reduce overcrowding. They will be built with local durable materials, not mud, mabati and sticks, and they will be suited to Kenya’s varied geography.
The materials include baked bricks, hollow bricks, and interlocking bricks and expanded polystyrene panels, or EPS, for prefab construction. Interlocking bricks are considered resistant to earthquakes. Hollow blocks on the other hand reduce the volume of concrete used, hence, the cost while prefab EPS also cuts down on costs of construction and labour.
Overpricing the cost of construction
During his early days in office, Education CS George Magoha blamed school heads for overpricing the cost of classroom construction, derailing efforts to expand infrastructure. Part of the inflated, unjustified cost presumably would line pockets.
If the construction project succeeds, it make schools safer and greatly decongest classes that are expanding with the policy of 100% transition. Traditionally, schools have used stones in both urban and rural areas. Some institutions have been forced to use iron sheets, timber and even mud to build classrooms.
The headteachers’ caucus has proposed that the cost of school building materials be subsidized. Indimuli Kahi, the Kenya Secondary School Association chairman, says construction costs have been pushed up by the tax on building materials such as paint, cement, iron sheets and other items.
“The cost of building products remains high because of taxes. Relief will mean a reduction in construction costs. We are also discouraging use of semi-permanent materials, such as iron and wood, as has mud,” said Kahi.
