East African Affairs Principal Secretary (PS) Dr. Caroline Karugu on Thursday, August 7 led a KSh52 million modernisation project at Nyaribo Primary School in her home village in Kiganjo, Nyeri County.
To optimize the school’s limited five acres of land, old wooden structures were decommissioned to make room for brandnew, fully equipped facilities.
Spearheaded by Safaricom’s M-Pesa Foundation as the primary sponsor with government support, the official groundbreaking ceremony was presided over by Dr. Karugu alongside a Foundation Trustee, PS colleagues, leaders, and thousands of community members.
Speaking during the event, PS Dr. Karugu said the investment would usher learners into an era of experencial learning, STEM and prepare them for the demands of the digital age.
“These children have been learning imaginary science because they don’t have a science laboratory. They have been imagining what computers are and what they look like. With these projects, they will now acquire experimental learning,” said Karugu.
The project is funded through a KSh50 million grant from the M-Pesa Foundation, with the Ministry of Education providing an additional KSh2 million for a Junior Secondary School science laboratory.
Karugu, a native of Nyaribo village, said the school’s poor infrastructure had for years denied learners equal opportunities, prompting her to seek support from the National Government and development partners.
“We are here doing the groundbreaking for the upgrade of Nyaribo Primary School, an institution that has been marginalised for many years in terms of infrastructural development,” she said.
The facelift will include four permanent classrooms, a science laboratory, a computer laboratory, an Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centre and the equipping of all learning facilities.
She said the old classrooms are being demolished to pave the way for modern structures that would restore dignity to the school.
The event was also attended by Cooperatives Principal Secretary Patrick Kilemi, Public Works Principal Secretary Joel Arumonyang and other national and county leaders.
