Principals of secondary schools in Kenya have been warned from changing school fees amidst the recent capitation cuts. The move came in after the country’s government ‘stunned’ that it would not sustain the KSh 22,244 per learner per year that it had promised earlier on reduction to KSh 17,000.
Government’s Stand on School Fees
The Cabinet Secretary for Education, Mr. Ezekiel Machogu, asked the school heads to strictly adhere to the existing policies and guidelines previously issued with respect to school fees by the Ministry of Education. “It is upon you as school heads to strictly adhere to the prevailing policies and guidelines as issued by the Ministry of Education regarding illegal levies,” said Mr. Machogu.
Principals’ Concerns and Proposals
Last week, heads of secondary schools threatened to raise school fees starting next term due to inflation and cost of living. They proposed an increment of fees from KSh 53,000 to KSh 69,000 for national schools. According to the National Chairman of the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association, Mr. Willy Kuria, the current fees were not enough to run national schools.
“There was a time we had asked the state to raise school fees; by then, we wanted it to be raised to KSh 69,000. The Ministry has our fee increment document proposal. The whole concept of school fees and capitation should be relooked at,” said Mr Kuria.
Government’s Prescribed Fees and Prohibition of Illegal Levies
Despite the principals’ concerns, Mr. Machogu maintained that the state had already provided for the maximum fees that each level of school could charge. He further emphasized that the collection of illegal levies from learners and their parents was banned. “We have banned the collection of illegal levies from learners and their parents. We have also written circulars capturing the legal position,” he added.
Handling of Kenya National Examination Council Certificates
He further warned headteachers against withholding KNEC certificates over non-payment of school fees. “These certificates are not to be withheld by schools for any reason, including non-payment of fees. These are policy and legal requirements and I urge you to strictly enforce them,” said Mr. Machogu.
Policy and Legal Framework for Education
He expressed assurance to the stakeholders that the Ministry of Education was creating an enabling policy and legal environment for the efficient and effective running of the education sector. He said that a draft Sessional Paper and 13 Bills with a view to implementing recommendations by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform had been finalized by the government. These will be tabled in Parliament before the end of the year and will form the basis for the most far-reaching review of the legal and policy framework for the education sector since independence.
Preparing for KCSE and Examination Reforms
The CS urged principals to ensure adequate preparation of this year’s KCSE candidates for the national examination. He commended educationists for adapting a new marking system that now computes the KCSE mean score based on English or Kiswahili or Kenya Sign Language and Mathematics, alongside the five best performing Subjects.
Premiering among the results is that the reforms put in place with respect to the marking system have so far shown some positive results, improving from 19% of candidates meeting the minimum university entry requirements in 2022 to 22% in 2023.