Rising costs, capitation delays push heads to demand higher school fees

Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa. [Courtesy]

Senior school principals have called for a sharp increase in fees, arguing that soaring food prices, delayed government capitation and rising operational costs have pushed many institutions to the brink.

Meeting in Mombasa, the 7,000 heads proposed a 66 per cent hike in fees across senior schools, warning that the current funding model is no longer sustainable and is affecting the quality of services they offer to learners.

They want national school fees increased from Sh53,000 to Sh88,000, while that of former provincial schools be adjusted to Sh67,000, and day schools to Sh7,675 annually.

Kenya Senior Secondary Heads Association (KESSHA) chairman Willie Mwangi said the lack of funds to run schools was a big headache for school heads. He admitted that most schools are not feeding the students well due to inadequate funds occasioned by delays in the release of capitation and low fees. 

Mwangi said the cause of the recent wave of student unrest could also be partly attributed to a lack of enough funds to feed the children, adding that the government had not remitted Sh22 billion capitation to schools.

He said the government has been remitting less to the schools despite the fact that each school is supposed to get Sh22,000 per child, as had been decided years back. “It is critically important to align and synchronise the school levy and capitation with the prevailing economic realities.”

Meanwhile, Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa took issue with unrest in the schools and wondered why Kenyan students are the only ones burning their schools.

He asked the principals whether they had heard of schools being burnt by students elsewhere in the world, and the teachers answered in the negative. “There is no country in the world where students are burning schools apart from Kenya,” said Ololtuaa.

Problem-solving skills

The PS said parents and teachers should advise learners that life is full of challenges and that violence cannot be the solution.

“Why are the children not burning their father’s homes because there is no food? As parents, we must teach children to be tolerant when there is a problem and learn that the problems can be solved in a more civilised way,” said the PS.

He advised the teachers to instil discipline among the students, as well as teach them to be patriotic and love their country. 

The PS said principals play a critical role in navigating the transformative phase of the Kenyan education system while implementing competency-based education (CBE).

He advised the teachers to equip learners with 21st-century skills, with holistic development as the focus.

The PS said there was a need for clear communication and collaboration in the CBE system so that the children were taught critical thinking and problem-solving, unlike the 844 system, where such things were not emphasised.

He explained that the new teaching should focus on creativity and imagination and encourage the children to be digitally literate for self-efficacy.

He said CBE was different from the former curriculum because there are new areas such as Scrabble, chess, cricket, and beach volleyball, which have introduced co-curricular activities in the schools.

He said the following: ‘The allocation of 8 lessons per day means the school must start lessons at 8.20 am and end at 3.30 pm. We have an allocation of eight lessons per day, every 40 minutes (40 lessons per week) and daily scheduled standardised reporting at 8 am, and lessons from 8.20 am to 3.30 pm,” said the PS.

Other stakeholders, including rights activist Julius Ogogoh, said schools should employ young professionals in teaching and non-academic departments who can relate to and understand the learners to end strikes.