The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has written to Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi challenging him on the fee guidelines that he issued to secondary schools last week.
The minister's action followed an earlier order from Deputy President William Ruto. Knut officials argue that the Cabinet Secretary for education did not consult them before issuing the fee guidelines and that the guidelines will adversely affect operations in schools without giving convincing reasons besides the need to employ extra teachers.
By urging the Cabinet Secretary to call for a meeting between his ministry and school managers, Knut is losing sight of the bigger picture. Where are the parents in the equation if all stakeholders are to be consulted?
The contention that the Cabinet Secretary did not consult stakeholders in the education sector may not hold true because he acted on a report that was tabled by a task force appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and led by a renowned scholar, Dr Kilemi Mwiria, which gave recommendations based on wide consultations with stakeholders.
In any case, the fee guidelines issued by the Cabinet Secretary are higher than the recommendations in Dr Mwiria-led team's 2014 report.
The objections raised by the Kenya National Union of Teachers could therefore imply the union supports the excessive levies that schools charge, which end up locking out bright students from poor families.
There is no denying the fact that schools need money to operate, but some of the levies charged by schools, like the Academic Improvement Fund, Building Fund, infinite bus and well-sinking project donations and the categorisation of some subjects as special, hence the source of more funds, cannot be justified.
For the Home Science subject for example, parents not only pay for the subject separately, they end up buying dinner sets, cutlery, cloth material and many other things each year.
Knut may have some genuine concerns, but the matter of school fees and the management of schools are outside its ambit. Knut should therefore engage the minister on the need to hire more teachers without dragging in the matter of the recently issued guidelines.
Because ultimately, the aim is to bring education within the reach of all.
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