Schools are forcing parents to pay extra charges in defiance of a directive on fees that was issued by the Education ministry.
Schools are set to reopen for the second term starting Monday. Earlier in the year, the government released a circular indicating the fees that each parent and guardian is expected pay to keep their children in the various day, boarding and special schools across the country.
However, an investigation by the Sunday Nation revealed that parents are being asked to pay more than what is stipulated. Some parents complained that some principals even threaten to expel their students should they fail to pay the extra fees.
Some schools have been informally asking parents to pay “motivation fees” for teachers. The amounts range from Sh2,000 to Sh3,000 per pupil, every term.
No records are kept for these payments as it is a casual arrangement, often coordinated by class teachers and the parent’s representative per class.
A parent at Kereri Girls in Kisii County who sought anonymity disclosed that, each term, they are forced to cough up an extra Sh 3,000 as “motivational fees”.
“We originally used to pay Sh2,000 but we were shocked when it was raised without any consultation and we had no choice. The principal threatened that our daughters would not be taught even during official school hours should we fail to pay up,” the parent claimed. The principal did not respond to text messages and her phone was switched off.
The situation was similar at Rang’ala Girls in Siaya County, where parents pay an extra Sh2,000 for motivation. This extra fee, according to parents, is paid in cash and no receipt is given upon payment. The principal, Ms Susan Akoth, denied claims of any extra fees paid at the school.
“The claims are not true and if auditors come to my school right now, they will prove that this is not the case,” she said.
Similarly, in February this year, school heads demanded an increase in school fees, saying the current charges are unrealistic.
In a proposal presented to the ministry, they also complained the money channeled to schools by the government is not enough and they cannot run schools effectively. They wanted the Ministry of Education to raise fees by Sh18,000. Former Education cabinet secretary Amina Mohamed in December warned school heads against charging illegal fees.
“Adding extra levies apart from what the government has stipulated amounts to corruption,” said Ms Mohamed. Barding High School principal Geoffrey Owori, where parents also claim to be paying extra unrecorded fees, denied the claims.
He claimed it could have been happening among the teachers without his knowledge. In Homa Bay, parents flooded shops to buy exercise books and other writing materials. They were, however, not buying textbooks.
Some bookshop owners attributed this to the timing. Being second term, most learners still have the books they bought at the beginning of the year.
“Textbooks are meant to be used for a whole year that is why just a few books are bought in April and August holidays,” said James Hamisi, a local bookshop owner.
Other traders who reaped big from the back-to-school rush were shoe sellers.