Some Sh800,000 allocated to four special schools in Kapchemutwa ward, Keiyo North Sub-County, has been lying idle in the county’s accounts since 2018.
During the 2018/19 financial year, about seven years ago, residents of Kapchemutwa ward allocated Sh800,000 to the four special schools located in the ward during a public participation exercise for budgetary allocations.
The Iten school for the visually impaired and Bugar, Mindililwo, and Kobil special schools were each to get Sh200,000; however, for 7 years down the line, the funds have remained dormant in the county’s account as financial years rolled over one after the other.
According to the Kapchemutwa MCA, Stephen Cheruiyot, the monies which were meant for capitation for ECD learners could not be accessed, as the county had not passed any law or capitation policy.
“The controller of budget cannot release funds if there is no law to appropriate money to a certain vote,” he said.
However, it was joy after the schools who have been waiting for the money for the last seven years finally got their cheque, Friday from the county government.
The MCA thanked the assembly for passing the capitation policy, which now will enable monies from the county to be disbursed to schools, especially ECDEs, Vocational Training Centres (VTC), and special schools,” he said.
The MCA, who is also the leader of the majority, said following the passage of the policy, residents from other wards can also allocate funds from the county’s budget towards the said institutions.
Speaking when he handed over the cheque, the director for education in charge of ECD, Paul Tenoi, said it was the county’s policy to ensure that all children, including those with special needs, access education.
He said the funds would go towards supporting the health of the learners through the provision of food under the school feeding programme.
He added that the funds will be used in the implementation of the school curriculum by providing essential instruction materials and also training of teachers to ensure that they are in line with the current CBC programme.
“Recently, we gave Kobil special school adaptive devices which included darts, balls, computers, and seats,” he said.
The director added that the county had ensured that all its ECDE centres were disability compliant to ensure that children with special needs get a conducive environment for learning.
The head teacher of Bugar Special School, Mrs. Emmy Ayabei, called on the county government to consider constructing a shelter workshop for schools like Mindiliwo and Kobil for the mentally handicapped children, which she said were the equivalent of laboratories in ordinary schools.
“The workshops will assist in enabling the children to learn skills which will make them self-reliant,” she said.
She also called on leaders to sensitize parents in the entire county to enroll their special needs children in schools instead of staying with them at home, disclosing that special schools have experts who can assist them in coping with life.
The chairman of Iten School for the Visually Impaired, Charles Chemolin, said the monies would go a long way in ensuring the school’s operations go on saying most of the children come from very humble backgrounds and therefore do not pay school fees.
The leader of the majority said there were other funds which were allocated for youth but are yet to be used, saying he will lobby the assembly to pass a law allowing them to be disbursed to the beneficiaries.
By Alice Wanjiru
