Parents’ demands for enhanced meals featuring eggs, sausages, beef and chicken are pushing boarding schools, particularly Cluster One (formerly national schools), to charge fees above the government-approved ceiling, placing principals in a difficult position.
The dilemma emerged after the Auditor-General flagged the schools for charging annual fees above the approved ceiling of Sh53,580, with principals attributing the excess charges to rising operational costs and parents’ insistence on maintaining costly menus.
Ikuu Boys High School chief principal Morris Thigaa told the National Assembly Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education (PIC-G&E) that the additional charges were introduced to meet operational costs and sustain the improved diet demanded by parents and learners.
Mr Thigaa said the school had sought approval from the Ministry of Education for the additional charges but had yet to receive a response, even as parents continued pressing for their children to retain the enhanced meals.
“The students had already become accustomed to a special menu featuring eggs and sausages during the week, and it was difficult to sustain the diet within the approved fees, yet the students insisted it be retained,” Mr Thigaa said.
He noted that parents had agreed to make additional payments, leaving the school administration caught between meeting their demands and complying with government policy.
The Ministry of Education headquarters at Jogoo House in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The school’s financial statements showed that parents contributed Sh84.36 million, including Sh12.68 million in Parents’ Association levies.
Meru School chief principal Rutere Mwenda told the PIC-G&E that the institution had maintained an enhanced menu since 2021, serving learners eggs, sausages, bread and tea, rice, lentils, beef and matumbo (tripe).
“We do eggs and sausages every day; three days in a week the students have eggs, and four days they have sausages. They also have tea and bread every morning. For supper, they have ugali and beef, with matumbo served on two days,” Mr Mwenda said.
The Auditor-General’s report for the year ending June 2025 showed that the school had irregularly increased fees by Sh21,446 for Forms One to Three and Sh24,290 for Form Four learners. The increases had not been approved by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, contrary to Regulation 45 of the Basic Education Regulations, 2015.
Mr Mwenda said the school had sought an additional Sh10,000 for dormitory construction and another Sh10,000 annually to address the deficit arising from the enhanced meals.
He argued that the menu helped keep learners satisfied and maintain calm, even as other schools experienced strikes, which tend to peak in Term Two.
“Once they are contented, there is a correlation between the performance and contentment of these students. When other schools were going on strike last term, we remained in school throughout without any issues,” he said.
The principal also revealed that students had resisted an attempt to change the school’s sausage supplier because they preferred a particular brand.
At Chogoria Girls High School, principal Elizabeth Mugambi said she consulted parents after taking over the institution and agreed to retain the established menu to avoid disruptions.
“Sometimes when you take over a school and find that there is a meal that the students are used to, if you don’t continue doing that then it brings problems,” she said.
Ms Mugambi said learners preferred rice, meat, sausages and eggs to githeri, which is served twice a week.
“On the two days that githeri is on the menu, a lot of it goes to waste, so we end up feeding it to the pigs, then we eat the pigs,” she said.
The school charged an additional Sh7,500 in the financial year ending June 2025 to cushion itself against rising food and commodity costs. Ms Mugambi said parents approved the adjustment and signed to signify their consent.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
Mang’u High School principal Dr Benard King’ah said the government allocation was increasingly difficult to stretch across the institution’s needs, including feeding students and supporting the Competency-Based Education curriculum.
“As a school, we may not be able to survive the entire year with the Sh53,000 because of the enhanced meals for the students,” Dr King’ah told the committee.
PIC-G&E chairman and Luanda MP Dick Maungu said the revelations called for a broader discussion on school-feeding standards and the affordability of education.
“This has emerged as a cross-cutting issue across the C1 schools where we have transitioned to a five-star hotel menu. Therefore, is a need for a sober discussion on whether the fees charged in schools reflect the realities of our times,” Mr Maungu said.
