99 percent of public primary schools are now connected to the power supply (Photo/Spectrum)Over 24,000 public primary schools have been fully connected to electricity to enhance information and communications technology uptake in schools across the country, Rural Electrification Authority Chairman Dr Simon Gicharu has said.
Gicharu said the board has now embarked on a supervision tour of schools in the regions to check on the progress of the Sh30 billion projects started by the national government in 2013.
‘The government’s power connection initiative will help the learning institutions in the utilization of technology and tech resources,’ he said as quoted by KBC.
Speaking to the press in Kilifi County when he led REA board of directors on an inspection of schools in the coastal county declared the school electrification project a ‘great success’ Gicharu noted that the authority has installed solar power as a source of lighting for schools in areas with no national power grid.
He assured Kenyans that the electrification project is complete and is expected to expose young learners to modern technology.
‘99 percent of public primary schools are now connected to the power supply and the remaining one percent are the new institutions that have come up recently’ he said adding that going forward the authority will be connecting schools on a continuous basis.
He noted rural electrification remains a priority of the government noting that REA is determined in providing electricity to every household in the country.
Dr. Gicharu noted that the rural electrification scheme is likely the boost economic output in the long run after every single village is connected.
REA chair at the same time said the electricity authority is building a Sh145 million storage facility at the REA yard in Mariakani Township.
He said the contractor Concordia building and civil engineering company ltd is expected to complete the project in June 2018.
The National Public Primary Schools Electrification Project began in July 2013, as part of the Jubilee Government’s flagship projects to facilitate digital learning in public primary schools.