Owners of informal schools sue State over ‘illegal’ forced shutdowns

Owners of non-formal schools across the country have taken the government to court for closing down unregistered schools.

Through the Kenya Alliance of Non-formal Schools Welfare Association (Kanswa), the owners have sued the Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang while seeking to have the directive quashed.

KCPE CANDIDATES

They told the High Court Tuesday that the order issued via a circular dated September 26, will likely affect preparation and performance of learners who are just about to sit for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE)

They claim that over two million pupils in about 20,000 unregistered schools will be affected by the directive and that their right to basic education will be violated.

“Kanswa is apprehensive that unless this matter is heard urgently and the implementation of the impugned circular stopped,  learners in over 20,000 non-formal schools will suffer irreparable losses, damage and prejudice,” said their lawyer Sherwin Njoroge.

In their filed case documents, the lobby argues that the non-formal schools operate under the Alternate Provision of Basic Education and Training (APBET) guidelines formed in 2009 but were eventually implemented in 2016.

They claim that majority of learners in these unregistered schools come from marginalized communities in urban informal settlements as well as arid and semi-arid areas hence they stand the risk of missing out on basic education contrary to the provisions of the constitution.

They also claim that majority of these communities are poor, either lack a public primary school, are overcrowded, are far away or lack necessary infrastructure to serve needs of all learners.

They allege that parents of such learners too have various reasons as to why they have taken their children to those unregistered schools yet now they are being forcefully required to transfer their kids to public ones.

The lobby has termed the directive as discriminatory, unreasonable, procedurally unfair, contrary to the Fair Administrative Action Act and good public policy.

According to the Kanswa’s chair Allan Masika, Sh 100 million was disbursed to 430 APBET institutions with 129, 448 learners and that the directive is a cover up for the government’s failure in ensuring delivery of free and compulsory education as well as dishonesty in the said allocation of funds.

The government ordered closure of unregistered schools after a classroom at Precious Top Talent School in Nairobi collapsed on pupils on September 23 killing eight of them.