CS George Magoha warns schools against hiking lunch, boarding fees

The government has warned school administrators against asking parents to pay more than 25 per cent of the total government subsidy or capitation per student for lunch and boarding fees.

The subsidy is currently set at Sh22,422 to cater for lunch and boarding services.

Speaking at an event in Mombasa, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said the government had disbursed funds to schools before the end of the last financial year.

“The government disbursed Sh56.5 billion for secondary schools and Sh17 billion for primary schools for 2020 and we shall disburse 2021 funds immediately Ifmis opens,” he said.

“I have already received news of some primary schools requesting Sh11,000 as school fees and I wonder what it is meant to be. I have disbursed my team to look into that and those found culpable will face the charge.”

Last month, the government released a new school fees structure for all secondary schools under the government’s Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) programme. The structure will be enforced from July 26, 2021 to March 4, 2022.

In the new structure, learners in national and extra-county schools in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Thika and Nyeri will pay Sh45,000 per year, Sh10,000 less than the Sh55,000 they have been paying annually.

Those in county and sub-county schools in the rest of the country will pay Sh35,000 while those in special-needs schools will pay Sh10,680, some Sh21,920 less than the Sh32,600 they have been remitting yearly after government reduced the learning period from 39 weeks to 30.

Prof Magoha said county officers were asked to ensure no child is discriminated against when joining schools next week to ensure the government achieves 100 per cent transition.

“We have made all preparations for the reopening of the first term 2021, not forgetting adhering to Covid-19 protocols. We are working with the Ministry of Interior to achieve this,” he said.

On curriculum books and learning stationery, the CS said 95 per cent of procured stationery had been distributed and the remaining 5 per cent for the northeastern region will be received before school reopen on Monday next week.

Prof Magoha also said the government has no intention of abolishing boarding schools as earlier communicated but it will only invest in building day schools.

“Under my leadership, we are not intending to abolish boarding schools at the moment but we shall focus more on building day schools to accommodate the increasing number of learners.”

In February this year, Magoha’s team called for boarding schools to be abolished to ensure all learners are on a day-scholar module.

The Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) task force formed by Prof Magoha proposed the scrapping of boarding in secondary schools under the new 2-6-3-3-3 education system and leaving a few boarding institutions to admit learners who pursue various pathways in senior secondary.

In addition, the team is also proposing the scrapping of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination after the sixth year.