Public primary institutions in Nairobi County will not receive security services from the county government as from 1st of September, 2020. In a letter seen by Teachers Updates written by Jared Obiero, the Nairobi County regional-director, notifies primary learning institutions of the decision by City Hall.
The 28th of August dated letter refers to the directive of Ruth Owuor, the education chief and social service head who had asked primary school headteachers in the county to seek security plan alternative as the county is looking for a better and lasting solution.
The schools which have been enjoying the security services from Magic Security and Vickers Security firms are set to stop receiving the services starting from Wednesday 31st, when the contract ends. It is a request from the county education office that the handover be done by school headteachers on the 1st of September.
In the letter, Board Of Management are asked to organize and secure properties of their learning institutions. County government has been paying the two firms about ksh40,000 monthly salary for each school in a contract that started back in 2018.
The information was not recieved well by the headteachers who complained of the risks that will affect both schools security and performance. The National Chairman of Kepsha Mr Nicholas Gathemia noted that the directive was poorly formulated and that it undermines primary education.
As things seem to be, parents will have to dig into their pockets to take care of the incurring security charges as the termination of contract comes at a very critical moment when schools are closed and Covid-19 continues to affect the nation.
Mr Gathemia has complained that as the financial gains in the secondary schools continues to to increase, Primary School benefits have been declining. The school heads noted that there will be a possibility of performance decline due to lack of basic learning equipments and resources.
Cases of thefts have been increasing of late in Kenya with thieves targeting teaching and learning materials mostly in informal settlements.
