The Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) has asked the Ministry of Education to investigate some rogue public secondary school principals in connection with illegal charges levied on parents.
Speaking to the press in Eldoret town on June 9, the PTA national chairman Nicholas Maiyo said the principals were going against the government-set fees guideline by imposing extra charges on the learners.
He has called on the Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof George Magoha to move with speed and probe the affected schools to save parents the burden of meeting the extra levies on top of the fees set by the government.
Maiyo regretted that the principals were now taking advantage of Magoha’s directive to the parents across the country to clear all fee arrears by turning away students who have not cleared the extra charges.
“We are in total support of the government’s directive that parents clear arrears to enable schools run their operations smoothly but what we are against is the trend where some rogue principals taking advantage of the order by including illegal levies in the fees guideline,” said Maiyo
While speaking at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) during the handing over of the multi-million Agricultural Laboratory (ALB) building which was funded by the
Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA), Magoha noted that some parents from well off families were taking advantage of an earlier directive on the payment of school fees during the Covid-19 pandemic
The CS ordered school heads across the country to ensure parents pay school fees for the 3rd Term.
“I want to request, on behalf of the government, that the Kenyan parents who are still not paying the balance of their third term school fees to pay without delay,” directed Magoha.
He however asked the principals to double-check and ensure that the students they are sending home are not from poor backgrounds or where the parent has lost their job.
Magoha observed that the majority of parents who are refusing to pay school fees can afford to pay and they must now pay.
According to Maiyo, the extra levies being imposed on the students, include Sh6,000 for motivation, Sh5,000 for purchase of school bus and Sh700 for sporting activities despite the government’s ban on all extra-curricular activity in all public and private schools across the country due to Covid-19 pandemic.
He faulted several county, extra county and national schools for sending home students whose parents have not paid the extra levies which were banned by the government terming their action as illegal.
“I have evidence from Chewoyet Boys High School in West Pokot County which has been charging the extra levies above the government fees guideline and I will forward the evidence to the CS for action to be taken against the school management,” said Maiyo.
The chairman said that when he confronted the school principal over the matter, he confessed the existence of the extra levies which he claimed was anonymously agreed upon by parents to motivate the tutors if they expect their children to pass the national exam.
Maiyo reiterated that unless the government moves with speed to arrest the situation, the trend by the rogue high school principals could escalate the drop- out rate among learners despite it doing everything possible to ensure 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary schools.