Door to door checks in Meru for full transition to high school

National government coordination officials in Meru have vowed to carry out door-to-door checks for students who have not yet reported to school for Form One admission.

Igoki Deputy County Commissioner Sarah Wanjiku said they will use the list of those yet to take their places in secondary schools to ensure the area attains 100 percent transition from primary school.

Ms Wanjiku said eight percent of students who wrote the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations were yet to join high school.

She spoke at Kinoru Secondary School on Saturday during the disbursement of Sh9 million bursary cheques.

FOOD

North Imenti MP Rahim Dawood urged the government to supply free food to students if it wishes to realise the 100 percent transition rate.

The MP said many students were unable to join secondary schools due to "hidden charges" for feeding programmes yet the Education ministry said they would learn for free.

He said secondary schools have this charge since it was not not catered for by the government and that the payments were being replicated in primary schools.

STANDARD

Alternatively, Mr Dawood suggested, the government should come up with a standardised rate for the feeding programme.

He noted that some teachers were taking advantage of parents and charging them exorbitant fees.

“There are many disparities ... some schools are even forcing primary school children to contribute amounts ranging from Sh800 to Sh3,600. There should a standard charge set by the ministry to ensure uniformity,” he said.