Fees, uniform costs pile pain on parents as schools reopen

A parent buys uniform for her son in readiness for the opening of schools for 2020 first term. Parents are grappling with the shock of exorbitant levies as learners report for term one of the 2020 school calendar. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • A survey by Nation established that schools have introduced levies besides the normal school fees.
  • Mr Maiyo said he had received complaints from thousands of parents.
  • He maintained that parents will not pay any extra fees besides what the Ministry of Education has provided for.

Parents are this weekend grappling with the shock of exorbitant levies as learners report for term one of the 2020 school calendar.

Despite the government capping fees charged by public schools, thousands of parents were yesterday struggling to come to terms with a host of charges introduced by school administrators, running into thousands of shillings.

Parents’ Association chairman Nicholas Maiyo told the Sunday Nation he had discovered several levies that had been imposed by some schools and which they had to meet before their children are admitted for the first term.

EXTRA LEVIES

A survey by the Sunday Nation established that hundreds of schools have introduced fees for admission, school uniform, development, transport and for reference materials such as the bible, atlas, dictionary and hymn books.

This is besides the normal school fees.

A fee structure of one of the primary schools in Nairobi seen by the Sunday Nation required parents of Grade One pupils to pay a Sh1,000 annual PTA charge, Sh1,000 annual diaries charge, primary insurance fees at Sh1,700, caution money (Sh3,000), maintenance fee (Sh1,000), activity fee (Sh1,500) and a further Sh2,500 for snacks.

The school has also asked learners to buy textbooks, workbooks, and children’s storybooks.

Other items to be bought include acrylic paint, painting brushes, spring files, two reams of photocopying paper and foolscaps.

COMPLAINTS

Mr Maiyo said he had received complaints from thousands of parents, one being that a primary school headteacher had demanded Sh20,000 to admit a pupil.

“Some headteachers have taken advantage of school uniform and school infrastructure to ask parents to pay extra fees,” he said.

Others are asking for transfer fee while others want learners graduating from pre-primary to Grade One to pay caution fees of up to Sh2,000 despite having paid the same when they joined their schools last year.

Parents who spoke to the Sunday Nation revealed schools were demanding extra charges to be paid into a different account other than the one for school fees.

The Ministry of Education allows school heads to open bank accounts for school fees and government funding. The accounts are audited by the field education officers to ensure credibility and accountability.

However, with the separate accounts, field officers would be unable to inspect and audit them as they are only known to school administrators and their respective boards of management.

In some secondary schools, parents reported that heads had asked for between Sh5,000 to Sh7,000 for school uniform, way above the amounts charged by established uniform dealers.

Mr Maiyo termed the move a strategy by schools to milk parents financially.

WON'T PAY

He, however, maintained that parents will not pay any extra fees besides what the Ministry of Education has provided for.

“School principals must not take advantage of parents and ask for extra fees,” he said.

The parents’ association has also opposed a proposal by Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) Chairman Kahi Indimuli to the Ministry of Education requesting for an increase in school fees.

The principals requested that extra-county schools pay Sh17,000 more and day schools to pay Sh6,000 more. Those in county schools will pay Sh7,537 more.

Several parents complained that schools heads were demanding levies for infrastructure and development and caution fees from continuing learners besides the normal tuition fees. A parent said yesterday that uniforms sold in schools are of low quality and parents have to keep replacing them.

“The same uniform is far cheaper in the outlets yet schools don’t allow students to buy them outside,” he said.

The uniform set provided at most schools includes two pairs of trousers or skirts, two shirts for boys and two blouses for girls, two jumpers, two pairs of socks and a tie.

APPROVAL

On Saturday, Mr Indimuli told the Sunday Nation that schools ask for extra charges only if they agree with the ministry and get its approval.

On school uniforms, Mr Indimuli said the allegations that school principals have raised charges was a misconception and a harsh verdict on principals.

“Parents must stop these accusation because all school uniforms are ordered by schools through transparent tenders. If parents feel that the charges are too expensive, it is advisable they compare the price with that in market outlets,” he said.

According to the Ministry of Education’s secondary school fee guidelines for 2020, parents in day schools are not required to pay school fees. The government will pay Sh22,244 per student this year in both day and boarding schools.

Parents in boarding schools category A are required to pay Sh53, 554 while those in Category B will be required to pay Sh40,545.

For special needs schools, the government will pay Sh57,974 while parents will pay Sh12,790.

NO COMPLAINTS ON GUIDERLINES

Kenya Primary School Heads Association (Kepsha) Mr Nicholas Gathemia said he has not received any complaints against his members regarding the guidelines.

“The school guidelines are clear, and so far no report has come to us concerning a headteacher who has flouted them,” he said.

Saturday, parents in Mombasa flocked bookshops and uniform centres in preparation for first term as school reopen on Monday.

Some parents decried the rise in prices of the uniforms.

I expected the prices to be high but not this much. It has forced me to use more than I had budgeted for,” said Ms Mary Wanjigi, whose child is joining Form One.

Additional reporting by Mishi Gongo