How schools dodge State fees guidelines

By Michael Oriedo

Parents of students joining Form One have been forced to dig deeper into their pockets as public secondary schools become craftier at beating the Ministry of Education fees guidelines.

A survey by Education reveals that many schools, from national to district, have devised strategies to ensure parents pay high fees even though the Government has been subsidising secondary school education since 2008.

Consequently, the cost of education continues to escalate. Form One students in district public schools pay about Sh35,000 a year, excluding the Government subsidy while parents with children in national schools part with about Sh95,000 per year. The situation is no different in provincial schools, which charge up to Sh70, 000 for fees.

But the ‘inflated’ fees do not cater for items like hockey sticks, rugby and volleyballs, which many school require Form Ones to report with.

Head teachers usually set fees in third term when schools prepare their budgets. The head teachers prepare two sets of fees structures. One structure bears a lower figure in line with ministry recommendations and the other, the actual school fees parents will pay.

The structure bearing the lower figure is sent to the ministry for approval.

The second structure with a higher figure is given to continuing students to pass on to their parents. This is the same structure that is sent to parents of Form One students with adjustments. "The fees structure that is sent to the ministry has the recommended figure to gain approval," says a teacher at a school in Western Province who could not be named for fear of reprisal from the institution.

Students and their parents report to Form One. [PHOTO: MARTIN MUKANGU]

The teacher says the school forwarded to the ministry a fees structure indicating Sh26,500 as the total school fees. But Education obtained the structure sent to Form One parents with total fees of Sh33,732. "Schools cannot survive on the fees set by the ministry,’’ the teacher says, defending the practice. "That money is little and it does not reflect the rising cost of living," he says.

Adjusting structures

The ministry limits the number of projects a school can undertake in a year.

For instance, a school cannot buy a bus and construct a dormitory or a dining hall. Therefore, schools have to find ways of adjusting the fee structure to cater for the projects.

Head teachers circumvent the rules by coming up with a structure with items and costs that are acceptable to the ministry but which conceal the various increments.

A fee structure obtained by this writer from a provincial school reveals the crafty undertaking. Listed among other levies is Sh400 for an Education Improvement Fund. Curiously, the school also lists a School Education Improvement Fund of Sh1,000.

At the school, every student is charged Sh500 per term for maintenance of lightening arrestors. Other schools hide the ‘dubious’ charges under ‘development or joining fees,’ where parents pay up to Sh12,000.

National and provincial public schools use similar tactics albeit differently.

A parent with a child at a top performing national school says Form One parents are sent ‘proposed’ fees structures with their children’s admission letter. But the amount differs greatly from the actual fees they pay once their sons and daughters commence learning.

At one top boys school, Form Ones pay Sh57,940.

Later when the students have reported to school, parents are called for a meeting where they are informed of extra charges.

"Last year we were asked to pay an additional Sh30,000," says the parent who fears victimisation if his identity is revealed. The fees were inclusive of a Sh12,000 ‘joining fee.’

"The principal explained that the money was to be used for repair of desks and beds which the students would use," he says. The structure included a Sh1,765 charge for repairs, maintenance and improvement.

Separate menu

During a similar meeting at a top girl’s school, the head gave parents two separate menus for their children. "One list had items like eggs, fruits, sausages and weetabix for breakfast. The other had items such as tea, porridge and bread," says a parent whose daughter is now in Form Two.

The head teacher then convinced the parents to endorse the list with sausages for the sake of their children’s health, consequently raising the fees.

"It is the standard practice in most national schools. Parents are called three weeks after their children have joined the schools where they are informed of additional charges," a teacher at a top girl’s school says.

"One of my sons in Form Two at a provincial school in Nairobi paid about Sh45,000. This year the fees has been raised to Sh60,000," says Mr Sebastian Kimani, a parent with three children in secondary school.