Schools in Mombasa, Tana counties where pupils learn under trees
Pupils learning under a tree at Mwangala Primary School in Mtongwe, Mombasa County. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The school has 12 teachers and six classroom, and needs six more.
- Mr Bodole said learning for lower classes, who learn under a tree, is usually suspended.
In several schools in Mombasa and Tana River counties, learning still takes place under trees.
This is the case at Mwangala Primary School in Likoni, Mombasa County where classrooms are few forcing some pupils to learn under a tree.
The school has 12 teachers and six classroom, and needs six more.
The teachers are also affected as they have to sit in a small room that acts as the staffroom.
Parents of children in the Early Childhood Education (ECD) section at the school had to build a mud classroom for the young learners.
“The ECD has 54 pupil. So you are forced to teach one class, let the rest sleep then teach the other class,” said a teacher at the school.
According Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Executive member Dan Aloo, Mwangala and Reroni primary schools in Jomvu are some of the learning institutions with poor infrastructure in the region.
“St Mary’s Bangladesh (Jomvu), Maunguja (Kisauni) and Magongo (Changamwe) primary schools are congested. In Mwangala some classes are held under a tree,” he said.
When the Nation visited the school, they found students being taught under a tree.
The situation is the same in Tana River County.
Even with establishment of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and disbursement of millions of shillings through the county government, most schools have poor infrastructure.
Handaraku Primary School in Garsen constituency has a population of 480 pupils who have to fit in six classrooms and others learn under a tree.
The situation is bad that Class Four and Five pupils share a classroom.
Two teachers for the two classes are forced to teach in turns as they have to use one blackboard.
The school headmaster, Mr Bodole Gobu said the pupils have been learning under a tree for a while.
“We have eight classrooms. One is serving as staff room and another room has been set aside for computers,” added Mr Gobu.
Mr Bodole said learning for lower classes, who learn under a tree, is usually suspended on rainy season.
Tana River Governor Hussein Dado has blamed the national government for the poor infrastructure in schools.
“If the national government could fully release infrastructural development and bursaries to the counties, the situation will improve in the schools,” he said.
