Secondary school headteachers in Mandera have taken on the county government, accusing it of insincerity in how it's managing the Elimu Kwa Wote initiative.
Two years after Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif launched the Elimu Kwa Wote initiative, a political pledge that catapulted him to the seat, its future is now uncertain. The programme involved the county government paying most of the fees for all secondary-school-going students in Mandera to mitigate the devolved unit's high poverty index.
Elimu Kwa Wote committed to pay 60 percent fees for boarding students and 70 percent for day scholars.
But now, over the weekend, secondary school headteachers in the region took on the county while accusing it of insincerity in administrating the programme.
“We are facing challenges in this programme, including delayed disbursement fees by the county government and the failure to provide a list of beneficiaries to schools,” Mr Ali Hassan Ali, Chairman Kenya Secondary School Headteachers Association (Kessha) Mandera branch.
According to Kessha, local politicians have taken advantage of the programme and are now crisscrossing the vast county seeking political mileage and relevance.
For any negotiations with the county leadership, the school heads said: “We shall only meet the governor and his team after fees for both second and third term have been released.”
They want the funds sent to schools before September 13.
“If we don’t get funds to run the schools by September 13 then on September 16 all students will be sent home,” Mr Mahat Ibrahim from Kessha's treasury said.
“The Mandera County Government should mid-wife a tripartite legal binding agreement on the programme involving the Ministry of Education, local members of Parliament and Kessha.”
Crisis in schools
When reached for comment, North Eastern Regional Director of Education Adan Roble acknowledged that there is a crisis in Mandera's schools.
“There are issues in Mandera concerning secondary school fees payment and we have given the parties concerned a window to iron out those issues. If they fail, I will write to the Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Education for action,” Mr Roble said.
According to Mr Roble, school fees payment in Mandera is in arrears following failure by the county government to pay. He also confirmed that all schools have received capitation from the national government.
“What parents were supposed to pay was taken over by the county government...but this is not happening. No parent is paying anything because the governor promised to pay,” Mr Roble said.
School heads said they are unable to pay teachers hired by boards of management as well as settling bills like electricity and water.
“We can't pay subordinate staff. Things are just pathetic at secondary schools in Mandera,” Mr Ibrahim.
At Mandera Secondary, a national school, school Principal Noor Sheikh said it has become difficult to keep the 2,320 students on the premises.
“We need food, water and other essentials to run the school. We cannot operate without funds,” he said.
County government responds
In a statement, the county government admitted a hiccup in the Elimu kwa Wote initiative.
“In May, the county government conducted a data verification exercise across all public secondary schools. The exercise uncovered significant data inconsistencies, leading to a delay of pay for second term fees pending further data verification,” said Mr Bashir Alio, county minister for Education and Human Capital Development.
According to Mr Alio, the delayed disbursement of funds is because of failure by school heads to provide much needed data.
“We asked for further verification of some beneficiaries missing crucial information. Only 15 out of 68 schools responded positively to this request. The County Government is appealing to all school heads to respond before September 14, 2024, for completion of data verification and to fast-track disbursement of funds.”
“The county government attributes the delay in disbursement to the delayed release of funds from the National Government for the fiscal year 2024/2025 and the non-compliance of many schools in data verification,” Mr Alio added.
To resolve the blame game, school heads are proposing that parents play a role in providing the required data to the county government.
“We want the parents to download and fill the forms, take them to chiefs, religious leaders and heads of institutions for confirmation and attach the necessary documents before submitting to the relevant bursary office,” Mr Ibrahim said.
Mandera has at least 67 public secondary schools with a population of 23,000 students.
