Lack of funds locks schools out of fete

The Coast provincial drama festival kicked off on Tuesday with a low turn-out.

Sources attributed this to lack of funds in schools.

Primary and nursery schools took to the stage in different categories to battle for tickets to the national drama festival to be held at the end of the month in Kisumu.

Public schools’ performances were of low quality compared to their private school counterparts. This was blamed on shortage of funds to buy props and costumes.

Several schools performed at the Mombasa Polytechnic University College, with the corruption theme taking centre stage.

Corruption

Vuga Primary School described how corruption had eaten into the fabric of society, especially in the Free Primary Education programme, in their dramatised dance.

The other schools which performed yesterday included Taveta Primary School in the oral narrative category, Shimo la Tewa in the dance group category, and Kagumbani in choral verse.

Kwale School For the Blind was the only special school that performed on Tuesday.

The Nation established that lack of adequate funds disbursed by the government to public schools had stopped many schools from participating in this year’s festival.

“We have been forced to work on a shoestring budget because of inadequate funds for the drama kitty,” said a teacher from a public school.

The five-day festival under the theme “Nurturing Youth through Leadership” will end on Saturday when colleges and universities perform.
The top three in each category will represent the province at the national level.