53 Malava schools lined up for upgrade in NG-CDF shake-up as Ndakwa gets to work

Secondary schools within Malava are set to undergo major rehabilitation to upgrade their status.

This is according to MP David Ndakwa, who made the remarks during an academic meeting with all the 53 principals heading senior schools within the constituency.

Ndakwa, who was receiving the constituency’s schools status report through the NG-CDF office led by its fund manager Humphrey Sechero, and which entails all the designated key projects meant for implementation, said he was concerned about the “rotten” status of most of the schools within the constituency.

The MP said with the presentation of each school status report, it will be easier to identify which of the highlighted projects within the schools would be given implementation priority.

He said with the reports being presented to the fund manager for scrutiny and classification, it will be easy for the office to identify which ones need urgent attention in each school.

Ndakwa said he was giving education all the necessary attention needed, hence his move to set up an education advisory board that will be working with him to improve the quality of education in the constituency.

He said the formation of the advisory committee, led by Shamberere National Polytechnic Chief Principal Elisha Nyamu, is a transparent move meant to openly deliberate and execute education matters within the Malava NG-CDF jurisdiction.

The Malava Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) Manager, Humphrey Sechero, while receiving the project development files from principals, advised them against requests for storey buildings, as they are costly and can only be awarded to one institution at a time, denying others an opportunity for their projects to be considered.

Sechero observed that the institutions’ status report proposals will be factored into the 2026/27 financial report, which will be due in two to three months. The manager noted that land for expansion has been one of the major setbacks in many schools across the constituency.

“For those schools wishing to have land bought by the NG-CDF, let them ensure that the land has a title deed, valuation from the government valuer to determine the price, as well as residents and the school management attending public participation and supporting the implementation of the proposed project as a key priority to have their proposals captured in the Constituency Development Fund Committee (CDFC) minutes,” he directed.

He also said plans were underway to set up an ICT hub in each ward to improve digital literacy.

“Already we are transforming part of the Malava Constituency NG-CDF office to be an ICT hub where those interested in online jobs and training can come and use the facility,” he said.

According to the principals presenting their key projects in their respective zones, the West Kabras representative, Rose Abuko, who is also the Principal of Malava Girls, suggested that schools within their area of operation should diversify the three pathways to different institutions that have the capacity to offer each of them — STEM, social sciences and arts.

She said schools that have the capacity to host arts should be uplifted to the required standards where other schools will hold their arts lessons, and the same should apply to other institutions, to enable the zone to offer all three pathways.

The Central Zone, which was represented by Principal Namanja Kulecho Memeti, complained about road networks within the area that have hampered mobility.

The zone also requested the elevation of some of the eight senior schools to county status, as they all fall under C4. It also cited the issue of staffing in schools, as well as the construction of ICT hubs to scale up digital literacy, besides calling for the sensitisation of the community to embrace education.

Principal of SDA Namagara, who was representing the North Kabras Zone, called for the establishment of workshops to offer practical lessons in technical subjects including woodwork, metalwork, building construction and electricity, as the subjects directly conform to the CBE syllabus.

At the same time, Chief Principal of Friends Malava Boys, Moses Moyi, raised concerns over the school’s 2025 KCSE results, saying the candidates’ results were purportedly shortchanged and downgraded contrary to their known overall performance.

He said he had written to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), complaining about the skewed results.