At the age of 14, Cyrus Osongo Mongare was forced to worry about problems that children his age do not lose sleep over. He has had to look for money for his school fees.
There is no doubt about his academic ability, as he scored 399 points in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam and secured a place at the prestigious Maseno School.
“My uncle, who works as a caretaker, gave us Sh10,000, a fraction of the Sh53,554 annual fees required. Hopes were high that this effort would at least secure my spot in school. My dreams were shattered when I was turned away at the gate of the school. Now, I cling to the fragile thread of hope, yearning for a miracle to pave the way for education,” he says.
He is still not in school, three weeks after his colleagues reported for Form 1.
The total cost of his education for one year is Sh75,798, and the government is supposed to pay Sh22,244 towards his fees under the Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) scheme – the government pays this money for all students in public schools, whether in day or boarding school.
According to his appeal letter, seen by the Nation , the board has asked for approval to charge an additional Sh24,000 per student “towards repayment of a school bus loan, completion of a new 500-capacity storey dormitory and to initiate the expansion of the current dining hall to accommodate 3,000 students at a sitting.”
Cyrus has been brought up by his mother since his father died in 2013. In total, the widow needs Sh77,554 per year to see her son through secondary school.
She also needs about Sh20,000 to buy his personal belongings and other items, bringing the total to almost Sh100,000.
For her, all this undermines the claim that basic education is free in Kenya, as she finds it difficult to take Cyrus to his dream school.
The boy disagrees with the suggestion that he attend a day school because it is more affordable than the Maseno School he has always dreamed of.
“So what was the point of working hard to score high marks in KCPE? Will the national schools then be only for the rich?” he asks.
In addition to the FDSE, the government also runs the Free Primary Education (FPE) programme, now in its 20th year. Despite complaints from head teachers, the allocation per child has remained at Sh1,420 since 2003.
As most public primary schools are day schools, parents often provide for their children's tuition needs. Although the government provides one textbook per subject, parents buy additional reading materials and stationery.
“There’s no free education here. What can you do with Sh1,420 shillings for a whole year in this economy,” said Jimmy Mwenesi, a parent from Nairobi.
The two free basic education programmes have made a mockery of what was intended at their inception. They have left parents with a huge financial burden for their children to attend public schools, while some extremely needy children have been denied their constitutional rights.
An analysis of budgeted and allocated funds, school enrolment and the actual cost of goods and items shows that school managers have not been spared the pain.
“Being the head of a school right now is the most stressful job for us. The government doesn’t give us enough money, some parents don’t meet their obligations and the prices of items have just gone through the roof. Principals are now complaining of mental health-related issues,” a principal told the Nation .
Last year, the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Education to increase either the fees paid by parents or the government capitation.
The guidelines for fees paid by parents and government capitation were last reviewed in 2018, but the cost of goods and services has increased since then. This puts more pressure on school managers who now have to cut spending on some items.
“The fees charged in schools is highly inadequate as schools are operating on a shoe-string budget as prescribed. Debts are therefore piling in schools while infrastructure development has become impossible,” the principals lamented in the document.
Kessha proposed an increase of Sh25,488 for learners in county and sub-county schools and Sh5,372 for those in day schools.
Learners in secondary day schools only pay for their meals under arrangements agreed between parents and management. About 70 per cent of learners attend day secondary schools.
However, these schools are the most disadvantaged as they are not allowed to charge other fees. This, in turn, affects their operations as their management boards struggle to recruit teachers to fill the staffing gaps that affect almost all schools.
Some stakeholders have linked the poor performance of day schools to lack of funding and inadequate staffing.
This has also made them less attractive to the majority of learners and parents, who compete for the few places in well-established schools.
Kessha has proposed a fee increase of Sh19,628 for learners in national schools. The new annual fees for this category would rise from Sh53,554 to Sh73,182.
“The programme (FDSE) has been faced with myriad of challenges that have adversely affected the purpose of the well-intentioned programme. There is need for the government to urgently address the many challenges and constraints that have become the bottleneck of the programme," Kessha said.
"This document highlights the proposal of Kessha on the most reasonable fee to be levied in our schools, taking into consideration the cost of living and balancing it with the desire to have quality and affordable secondary education.”
Akello Misori, the secretary-general of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), said that since education is a public good, the government should spend more on the sector so that all Kenyans have access to quality education.
“Our position as Kuppet is: go public and fund public education. For us to realise the development of the 21st century, the government needs to be very serious. We’ve been asking parliament to allocate significant funds to education,” he said.
The free and compulsory basic education programme was introduced by Kenya's third president, Mwai Kibaki, in 2003. It was later anchored in the 2010 Constitution.
