School fees saga calls for dialogue with principals

Form One students waits for admission at Shimo Latewa School in Mombasa. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

The Ministry of Education has announced fresh action against secondary school principals defying the official fees guidelines.

The stern warning, however, is not new seeing that the administrators have always added new levies for parents to foot at every beginning of a school term.

Majority of school managers often claim that the capitation from the national government and the stipulated school fees paid by parents are not enough to run the institutions.

With the skyrocketing cost of living, the school managers could have a point. However, the government and the ministry should always come in to ensure no student is sent away for lack of fees. This should help ensure the 100 per cent transition to secondary school is sustained.

On Friday, Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang told MPs that he had already sent a circular to field officers warning against any deviation from the set fees guidelines, adding that decisive action will be taken against defiant principals who continue flouting the Basic Education Act beginning tomorrow.

This would include demotion of principals still going against the guidelines, which spell the maximum fees each category of schools should levy.

But as MPs rightly reminded him, the ministry's top brass have over the years turned into toothless bulldogs as the school heads have never heeded such circulars and directives.

Indeed, every Cabinet Secretary who has served at Jogoo House in the last two decades or so has talked tough on the issue of school fees as well as other illegal levies and hidden charges but in vain. What guarantee can Kenyans have that things will work out differently this time around?

The reason why the issue continues to generate concern is because it is the single most impediment to the government's determination to ensure equity in our learning institutions. This calls for a holistic approach and broader stakeholder engagement. This also because different schools have differing financial needs.

Further, we have to take into consideration that many children from poor backgrounds risk dropping out of school as their parents cannot afford higher fees.

To make matters worse, though various bursaries exist, many high-scoring but poor children miss out. Every year, Kenyans are treated to stories of KCPE stars forced to do menial jobs in a bid to raise fees or resort to begging to secure their admission into national schools. Though many of them have seen Good Samaritans step in and offer to sponsor them, this is clearly unsustainable.

The ministry, school heads and parents must dialogue on the school fees guidelines and find a sustainable rate. For instance, schools could engage in income generating activities such as farming to raise money for poor students. This will ensure no student is sent away for lack of school fees. It can be done.