By Rodgers Omondi, Busia
Busende Senior School in Matayos Sub-County and Samia Girls’ High School in Samia Sub-County have received school buses from the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) Board under the Best Practice Demonstration Programme (BPDP).
The latest allocation brings to eight the number of schools in Busia County that have benefited from the programme since last year.
Speaking during the handover ceremonies at the respective schools, Principal Secretary for Economic Planning Boniface Makokha said the programme was addressing critical infrastructure and other needs in schools and surrounding communities.
“The programme addresses critical infrastructure and other needs in our schools and the surrounding community. Transport has remained a challenge in our local schools, resulting in learners missing opportunities to participate in co-curricular activities,” Makokha said.
He said Busia County had received a significant share of the 25 buses distributed so far under the programme.
“From the previous financial year, we have received eight buses distributed to two schools in each of four sub-counties of Busia County. Four more schools in the county, including St James Nasewa, St Brigit Namuduru Girls’, St Stephen’s Kengatuny Mixed and St Paul’s Kakemer, are set to benefit from additional buses,” he said.
Makokha commended the partnership between the NG-CDF Board and local leaders, saying it was helping strengthen the education sector through infrastructure development and other interventions.
He also urged leaders to ensure that public resources are properly planned and managed to benefit communities.
Busia Governor Paul Otwoma called for the employment of more teachers to address staffing shortages in schools.
“The government has worked hard to employ more than 100,000 teachers, but we still have a deficit. We want more teachers to be employed in our schools so that there are enough teachers to handle our learners in all sectors,” Otwoma said.
The governor also welcomed ongoing investments in education, saying improved infrastructure was contributing to the wellbeing of learners.
“We need to continue working together in support of the government to improve infrastructure in our schools and the education sector. NG-CDF is addressing equity by ensuring that resources for development are distributed equally. We need to continue championing the same,” he said.
Matayos MP Geoffrey Odanga called for special consideration for schools serving learners with special needs.
“We have four schools with learners with special needs in our sub-county. These learners are doing exceptionally well in co-curricular activities and academics, but they face challenges participating in activities due to lack of transport. We need to work together to ensure they are given school buses,” Odanga said.
Odanga further urged secondary schools with buses to allow their affiliate primary schools to use them without imposing conditions, apart from meeting fuel costs.
“Many secondary schools receive their students from primary schools. When a school has a bus, let it be used by its affiliate primary school without conditions. The only requirement should be fuelling the bus. Many primary schools cannot afford to hire transport, and as a result, learners remain unable to attend educational activities,” he said.
Funyula MP Oundo Mudenyo praised the impact of NG-CDF projects in the constituency and across the country, particularly in education.
“Today, many schools have developed in terms of infrastructure. Many students have received bursaries courtesy of NG-CDF. This kitty will remain important because it plays a critical role in the development of our schools,” he said.
Mudenyo also called on parents to work closely with teachers and schools to improve learners’ academic performance.
“The performance of a learner is a collective responsibility of the teacher, student and parent. As parents, let us work with our teachers to help our children. Let us also take our children to nearby schools and increase enrolment in our institutions. Through this, our schools will be able to develop,” he said.
