Secondary education to be free by 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta promises

 

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) Chair John Awiti (right) during the group’s 41st annual conference in Mombasa. (Photo: Gideon Maundu/Standard)

The Government will make secondary education free three years from now, President Uhuru Kenyatta said Wednesday.

He said this will make transition from primary to secondary school possible for all KCPE candidates. It will also remove many of the factors that make students drop out of high school, the Head of State added.

He said his administration had increased the free day secondary education expenditure by 33 per cent to Sh32 billion as it prepares to make universal secondary education free to ensure 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school.

"We are doing all this to improve the quality of education and ease the burden on parents by removing impediments of access to secondary education," the President said.

President Kenyatta was speaking in Mombasa Wednesday when he addressed the 41st Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) annual national conference.

He traced the introduction of free day secondary education to 2008 when the Government started paying Sh10,265 for each student a year. Uhuru said the scaling up of the figure to Sh12,870 last year had led to a phenomenal growth in enrolment in high schools.

"The free day secondary education programme has paid handsome dividends. Transition rates from primary to secondary schools have improved substantially from 60 per cent in 2008 to 86.7 per cent in 2015," he said.

The central place of education in national development is crucial and the Government will continue to invest heavily in education, he added.

Caught cheating

The President said the Government was seeking to improve administration of national examinations.

"My Government has embarked on critical changes in streamlining examination administration so that cases of cheating are eradicated," Uhuru said.

He said those caught cheating and those who found culpable of abetting the vice, will be jailed for 10 years.

The Head of State emphasised the need for school heads to embrace prudent management of funds.

"Prudence is not limited to funds disbursed by the Government. This includes funds collected from parents as well. As accounting officers in your institutions, you are fully responsible for management of the resources," Uhuru told the secondary school heads.

He instructed Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i to address the mushrooming of schools to ensure only economically viable ones are registered.