School orders parents to pay illegal fees

I am a parent at Nakuru Boys High School and there is an issue I wish to highlight as it affects many other people.

On May 20, 2016, parents of at least 150 students were called to the school to hear cases of indiscipline against their sons following an earlier strike attempt that saw them suspended for two weeks.

The panel called in parents individually but what followed was not really about the punishment to be meted out. The first order of business was compelling parents to clear outstanding fee balances.

Secondly, and this is where the concern lies, parents were allegedly forced to pay tuition fees, which the school sought to camouflage as ‘fast tracking’, but no receipt was issued. According to a directive from the Ministry of Education, this levy is illegal.

After making the payments, the parents had to go back home with their sons. Some of the students are candidates this year and they have not benefitted from the said tuition.

Can the Ministry of Education please look into this matter and save parents the anguish they are going through? The rights of our children to education are being violated by the school.