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Parents To Pay More For School Fees As School Heads Propose Increment

BY Getrude Mathayo · June 29, 2023 02:06 pm

Parents will have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay more for school fees after the school heads’ meeting in Mombasa challenged the government to increase the allocation per child to match the changing economic realities.

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) chairman Kahi Indimuli has proposed the increment of capitation from the current figure of Sh22,244 to Sh30,000 per student.

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Indimuli said they have been having challenges in managing schools. He was speaking on Wednesday during the 46th Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) Conference in Mombasa. He said this is due to the recent increase in commodity prices and late disbursement of funds from the government.

“I’m faced with a challenge when my colleagues say that we don’t even get 100 percent of the Sh22,244, how do we ask for more, and even the little one doesn’t come? How will it happen?” Indimuli asked.

In the Financial Year 2021-22, the head of schools had proposed 17,792 shillings which included the retained money at the ministry for Edu Mafia and activities.

“When capitation is released and then the parents are told that we have now sent funds to schools and therefore no children should be sent home, it hurts us because, how do we feed them? How do we provide water and sanitation? Because once children come to my school it becomes my responsibility,” Indimuli said.

“I know as a government you have various ways of funding budget deficit and you find ways of borrowing here and there to bridge that gap. As schools, we don’t have the leeway to borrow for our budget deficit.

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“So, encourage parents to pay fees for those in boarding schools and lunch money for day scholars because we are not able to meet our budget deficits.”

According to the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Deputy Secretary General Hesbon Otieno implies that school heads were left with no choice but to transfer fees burden to parents just to keep schools afloat.

Otieno accused the Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu of making false promises to parents and school principals that the state had disbursed funds to schools during an interview with the national radio station

“When the government is saying that they have disbursed funds to schools, the parents believe the government more than they believe the school principals. When the education CS says that the government has disbursed the capitation, parents think the principals are lying yet they cannot buy necessities like books and food for the schools,” stated Otieno.

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