State calls on carpenters to supply public schools desks

The State has invited carpenters to register with Deputy County Commissioners to be considered for supply of public schools desks ahead of reopening.

The artisans are expected to submit details of their monthly sales turnover, employee numbers, M-Pesa and bank details for selection on the supplier list.

Qualifying juakali workshops and carpenters will be identified and paid through grassroots structures in a model similar to the one deployed in the Kazi Mtaani Initiative.

“Interested local juakali workshops and artisans involved in carpentry at sub-county are invited to register using the prescribed forms that can be downloaded…” said basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang in a notice.

The selected artisans will supply special desks designed to assist learners comply with social distancing protocols.

On Monday, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said Education stakeholders are re-looking reopening dates based on available facts and the prevailing circumstances.

As part of the preparations for the reopening, the government has allocated Sh1.9 billion under the Economic Stimulus Programme for the supply of locally assembled desks to public primary and secondary schools.

The plan is to ensure each pupil gets a spacious personal desk and at the same time cushion artisans from effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The desks with large writing surface and space to hold books will be spaced to achieve the one-metre distance prescribed by the Ministry of Health.

The new-look desks are expected to eliminate the old seating arrangements in primary schools where four or five pupils would squeeze into a single bench.