Save us from greedy heads, KCPE pupils’ parents tell Matiang’i

Parents in Nakuru Town have appealed to Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i to order primary school heads to release result slips and leaving certificates of children who sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination this year.

The parents said some headteachers were demanding Sh100 from every pupil before releasing the vital documents.

A parent said pupils were being told that the money was for expenses the institutions incurred when downloading result slips from the Kenya National Examination Council website. Results were released early this month.

“This is daylight robbery by school heads and we appeal to Dr Fred Matiang’i to intervene,” said an angry parent.

Some parents at St Mary’s Girls’ — one of the top performing public schools in Nakuru Town — said they were also being made to pay Sh2,000 for the construction of Early Childhood classes before being given result slips.

“This is unfair to parents, considering the harsh economic times. Headteachers are demanding the money yet we want to save every available coin to pay the astronomical fees demanded of Form One students,” one of the St Mary’s Girls’ Primary School parents told journalists on Wednesday.

They expressed fears that their children could miss out on Form One places if they failed to deliver the documents to secondary schools where they had been admitted.

However, the school head, Damaris Ochieng, denied withholding children’s result slips.

“There is no way we can deny parents these documents because we know they cannot secure secondary school places without them,” Ms Ochieng said.

She, however, said the school held a funds drive in June where parents “unanimously” agreed to pay Sh2,000 for the construction of the ECD classes.

“This was a decision reached by the parents and not the school,” she added.