Fees racket: How principals are using underhand tricks to fleece parents

Students wait to board vehicles in Kakamega as schools reopen on January 7, 2026. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard] Despite repeated warnings from the Ministry of Education and the Teachers Service Commission, many heads of public secondary and senior schools continue to charge illegal fees, deploying increasingly sophisticated tactics to stay below the government's radar. From choreographed parents' meetings and carefully worded circulars to "commitment fees" disguised as goodwill payments, parents say schools have perfected the art of extracting money while maintaining a veneer of compliance. National Parents Association chairman Silas Obuhatsa accused schools of exploiting weak enforcement insisting that funding gaps cannot justify illegal levies. "On paper, fees have not increased. In reality, we are paying more than ever - just in ways that are harder to trace," said Obuhatsa. "We need policy enforcement in our schools so that parents are not fleeced. Let the government use quality assurance to enforce this rather than ranting with circulars," he said. Officially, school fees for 2026 remain unchanged. Former national schools, now classified as Cluster 1 (C1), are capped at Sh53,554 per year. Extra-county schools (C2) charge Sh45,054, while county schools (C3) are capped at Sh40,035. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has been categorical: no additional levies are allowed. "We wish to emphasize for the avoidance of doubt that there has been no revision of boarding fees or any other fees payable for learners in Senior School. The prevailing guidance from the Ministry of Education continues to apply," Ogamba said. But on the ground, that directive is quietly and systematically ignored. One of the most common tactics is the use of parents' meetings to sanitise illegal levies. Parents say these meetings are often convened shortly after admission, when families are anxious not to jeopardise their children's places. "It is a well-choreographed move. The school management sets the ball rolling, then the board chair and parents' association officials drive the message. By the time voting is done, dissenting voices are drowned," said a parent of a student in a national school in Makueni County. In theory, any extra costs must be discussed in meetings supervised by education officials and approved by the ministry. In practice, parents complain that proposals are never transparently tabled and approvals are never sought. At another national school in Kajiado County, for instance, the official annual fee is Sh53,554. Yet parents were instructed to deposit Sh49,500 on the reporting date-well above the approved first-term amount. "Note that the Parents Association Fund for construction of the dining hall, ablutions block and a dormitory will be Sh20,000. On top of that, you are required to contribute an extra Sh4,500 per term for development fees," reads part of the letter. The letter directs parents to deposit the money into the school account, blurring the line between approved fees and illegal levies. Another trick lies in cleverly worded circulars. Schools issue official-looking letters listing government-approved fees, only to attach additional "requirements" for infrastructure improvement, teacher motivation, remedial classes, academic trips, school bus purchases or payment of board teachers. "These levies are never called 'fees'. They are called contributions, support funds, motivation tokens but payment is compulsory" said a parent in Nairobi. Some schools reportedly threaten to send learners home if the extra amounts are not paid, even as the CS has warned against such actions. School heads defend the charges by citing inadequate government funding, especially under the new Competency-Based Education (CBE) pathways. "Right now, we are forced to hire experts in sports and technical subjects to deliver the curriculum. We have to agree with parents on cost-sharing," said a principal from Nyanza. Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association chairman Willie Kuria echoed similar concerns, saying only a few schools mainly national and centres of excellence, have the infrastructure to deliver STEM, arts and sports pathways.

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