By Christopher Omondi.
St. Mathew’s Ondiek Primary School in Kaloleni-Shauri Moyo ward in Kisumu County is one of the oldest schools in the region. However, poor state of the classrooms in the institution has left students with so much to endure. Reports from the school’s staff and residents profess a case of negligence from the area Member of Parliament Dr. Joshua Oron and other responsible organs.
In addition to that they called upon the County Government led by the Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o as the ECDE department in the school is also in the same state.
“This school has not had any construction in the last six years as only renovation work is usually done at this school. The classrooms are old, pitted and worn out, with the boards and windows affected greatly, considering some students arrive earlier for the preps and this affects them when dealing with the cold.
Another situation that has affected this place is the overcrowding of classrooms as it only has one stream per grade. This is hindering the individual learning process as it can lead to truancy or absenteeism.
This can also affect the students’ health as diseases such as flu can be easily transmitted, it is also more difficult for teachers as that means there is more workload load and this could at times affect their approach in the classroom as to how they handle students’’, says Angela Odero, who is a staff at the school.
The school had two classes renovated last year by the National Government Constituencies Development Funds (NG CDF) as part of the buildings they lost last year in the storms and rains. More work needs to be done, according to residents who are parents at the school and others who use the classrooms for religious purposes on weekends.
“I come to worship at this school every Saturday, and we use the lower grades classroom, which is near the gate, and the conditions are not that conducive. I would assume for the learners’ environment, for example, the pitted boards and floors at the grades 2 and 3, which are the classrooms we use, but there is more work to be done to the other classrooms,”said Joshua Ojwang’.
The infrastructural development at the school should be improved and this is evident from the concerns raised by the people who operate regularly at the school.
