School heads flouting fee rules face action by TSC
A Form One student and her parent walking through Elburgon town, Nakuru County on their way to school in this photo taken on August 04, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Once a teacher has been interdicted, they are placed on half salary until their case is heard and concluded.
- If found guilty, the teacher is officially sacked and deregistered as a teacher.
The Ministry of Education has forwarded names of school principals flouting fee guidelines to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for disciplinary action.
The Nakuru Boys High School principal is the first headteacher to be interdicted over the issue this term. Mr Yator Mike Kiplagat was interdicted via a letter written by TSC county director Fredrick Nganga.
“You charged extra levies to students in the year’s 2020 and 2021 contrary to the Basic Education Act section 29 while you were the Principal Nakuru Boys High school. Consequently, you are hereby interdicted with effect from September 1, 2021,” read the letter.
The TSC has invited the principal to submit a defence statement to the commission within 21 days as well as present any other evidence to support his case.
Basic Education Principal Secretary, Dr Julius Jwan yesterday said the Ministry has been collecting data from schools across the country and has been submitting the cases as they are reported to TSC.
He, however, did not disclose the names and numbers of teachers whose details have been forwarded, promising details as soon as they finish the process.
The PS said evidence gathering began in August and will now be a continuous process.
“As the ministry, we have given clear instructions to school heads that if someone wants to charge extra fee and has a genuine reason for that, then they should seek approvals from us,” said Dr Jwan.
“Despite revising the fee guidelines for this year, the capitation released by the government to the schools has not been reduced and all monies have been sent to schools, therefore, we don’t understand why a principal would demand extra charges,” he said.
According to the TSC disciplinary regulations, once a teacher has been interdicted, they are placed on half salary until their case is heard and concluded. If found guilty, the teacher is officially sacked and deregistered as a teacher. If not found not guilty, he or she is reinstated on full salary.
Cases of principals and school heads both in primary and secondary schools flouting the ministry’s directives have existed for many years but no action was being taken against them.
This prompted Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha two week ago to direct TSC to start disciplinary actions against those reported.
