Minutes:
MINUTES OF
A MEETING BETWEEN TRUSTEES AND THE HEADTEACHER AND THE SENIOR TEACHER AT LOLDIA
PRIMARY SCHOOL ON THE 2nd OF MARCH 2021.
Present:
·
Mr
Joseph MwangiNjeru, Head Teacher.
·
Mr
JamesNding’uri, Senior Teacher.
·
Wanja-GituraArentz,
Trustee.
·
Ben
Arentz, Trustee
Friday the
26th of February saw the festive opening of the new kitchen to feed
the students plus a 4 doors pit latrine plus a urinal. The guest of honour was
Hon. Martha Wangari, MP Gilgil constituency. These were in part sponsored by
the CDF but also by the Vice President Mr. William Ruto during his visit a
couple of months ago. Several thousand people attended the ceremony. Amongst
the guests were many head teachers from other schools and many government
officials. They were unanimous in complimenting the Head teacher about his and his
team’s achievements at Loldia Primary School.
A couple of
photos from the event are shown below:
All in all it was a great day
for the school and the children. Currently some 161 children are fed daily at a
cost of 10 Ksh per child per day, paid by the parents. The rest of the children
bring a packaged lunch from home.
The MCA had previously made a
promise in public that he would arrange for a 3 million gift to provide food
for free for all 2000+ children at the school. The general feeling is that this
was just a politically right statement from the MCA but that it is unlikely to
happen. However, because of this promise, many parents are not willing to pay
the 10 Ksh per child per day because they are waiting for theMCA to deliver on his
words.
Since the kitchen started
operation at the beginning of February, no more children leave the compound
during lunch times. This is a major relief because vulnerable students,
especially the girls,were prior to this exposed to all manner of misbehaviour
from male predators as there were no no parents to supervise them.
Only one small group of
children leave the compound daily, as they are fed by a church based
initiative.
Also, the students now tend
to stay longer at the school in the afternoons, because theyhavebeen fed at
lunchtime and are not hungry. This time is used for extra curriculum
activities.
The parents who work in the
local industries appreciate it very much that their children do not leave the
school compound during lunch hours and that they stay longer at the school till
the parents come home from work.
We discussed projects
required to support the school. These are shown here in order of priority:
1
Completing the dining room is the number one
priority. Having a proper place where the children can eat is considered very
important. Also, the building will be used as a place for events. The costs to
finish the building are estimated at 2.5 million Ksh. Hon. MP Martha Wangari
has pledged she will contribute 1 million towards the completion of the
building. Now all that is required is 1.5 million Ksh.
2
Teachers’ housing and classrooms. At the moment
the school has some 43 teachers and 34 classrooms, but the HT expects that from
April onwards, they will have 48 teachers.
There is currently a shortage of housing for the teachers. Despite good
allowances for housing, the teachers cannot find suitable accommodation in
Kasarani at the moment. Some spend the nights sleeping in classrooms which isnot
a sustainable situation.The HT estimates that they will need housing for some
20 teachers. These can be very simple constructions, like made from Mabati on a
concrete slab. These units would be sized 15 x 15 feet. There is plenty of space
on the compound for the construction of these.
The school would also need 14 additional classrooms to enable best utilization
of the increased number of teachers and reducing the very big numbers of
students per class.
3
Fencing. The fencing needs urgent repairs in
several areas of the school compound. At the playing field which is always in
use, mostly by inhabitants of Kasarani, the fencing has been ruined to
facilitate easy access to the field. The playing field was used for dumping
many loads of soil during the recent road construction phase, rendering the
fence very low. The school realizes the importance of the playing field for the
people of Kasarani, but would like to prevent these people from entering the
school compound where the classes, teachers’ homes and other facilities are. By
fencing off this area, the school will not be visited by those who should not
be there.
At the other end of the compound,
the fencing which used to consist of hedges of cactus, has been completely
demolished. Anyone can access the compound from this side without difficulty.
4
Upgrade of the existing management office. The
desire is to see the existing building converted in to a more work-friendly
environment, similar to the extension that was built for the teachers.
5
Motivational leisure excursions for the best
performing students. These would be educational tours like visiting nearby
national parks (Mt. Kenya, The Aberdares, Longonot, Chui conservancy etc.) This
is considered good for team building but also to motivate the students to
perform at their best.
