Kenya Power. [Photo/techweez.com]
More than 24,000 public primary schools are now fully connected to electricity to enhance information and communications technology (ICT) uptake, Rural Electrification Authority (Rea) has said.
REA chairman Simon Gicharu said the board is currently inspecting project sites to establish the progress of the Sh30 billion project commissioned by the national government in 2013.
Gicharu said Rea appreciates that ICT revolution is the next big thing in the education sector.
“The government’s power connection initiative will help the learning institutions utilize technology and its resources,” he said.
He said in areas with no national power grid, the authority has used solar power as a source of lighting for schools.
Gicharu, who spoke when he led Rea board of directors on a schools inspection in Mariakani area, Kilifi County declared the school electrification project a “great success”.
“Ninety-nine 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 continual basis.
He said rural electrification remains a priority of the government adding that Rea is determined to provide electricity to every household in the country.
“Rural electrification will boost economic output in the long run,” he said adding that Rea is building a Sh145 million storage facility in their yard in Mariakani Township with the contractor Concordia Building and Civil Engineering Company Limited expected to complete the project in June next year.