Schools Reopen For Final Term Amid Financial Strain, Exam Pressure

Learners across the country returned to school this week for what is traditionally the shortest and arguably most demanding term of the academic calendar.

For head teachers and principals, though, the return means more than just timetables and lesson plans; it means confronting a familiar headache of unpaid bills, tight budgets and a ticking clock ahead of national exams.

Unlike terms one and two, term three squeezes a lot into a little time. Teachers have fewer weeks to wrap up the syllabus, run through revision, and still administer internal assessments, all before candidates sit their final papers.

That compressed timeline leaves school administrators walking a tightrope between academic demands and the everyday business of keeping a school running.

Money remains the sticking point as many institutions say capitation from the government has either been slow to arrive or simply isn’t enough to cover the basics: food, electricity and water bills, textbooks and other learning materials, repairs, and staff costs all pile up fast.

Public schools, which lean heavily on both state funding and parental contributions, tend to feel this pinch the hardest.

It isn’t just the schools under pressure, either; candidates preparing for national exams are feeling the squeeze too, as teachers try to cover remaining content without cutting corners on revision.

Balancing thorough exam preparation with the rest of the term’s normal learning activities is proving to be no small task.

For parents, the reopening brings its own set of financial demands, fees, meals, transport, exam-related costs and the usual list of school requirements that seem to grow every term.

With final exams now within sight, education stakeholders are renewing calls for government funding to be released on time and for schools to get the financial backing they need to avoid disruptions during this critical home stretch.

At its core, the situation underscores a persistent challenge in Kenya’s education sector: how to keep classrooms adequately resourced even as costs climb and the stakes of examination season grow heavier by the year.

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