School certificate directive can make hard work and sacrifice pointless

There is nothing noble about political directives. They are often misguided and misinformed.

They can easily create a chaotic public sector if not properly first researched, pilot-tested, and their modalities of implementation agreed upon before being announced to the public.

But then, being that methodological would take away the grandiosity of the moment, which might be what drives these directives. The political ideology may be noble, but in politics nobility is as scarce as water in a desert.

The directive to release all certificates held by secondary schools against fees balances is just one such example. 45 per cent of the population in Kenya lives below the poverty line.

So the reality is that about half the population may not be able to pay the complete fee for learning, even in a public school.

READ: EDITORIAL: Offer to pay exam fee noble but unrealistic

READ: Ruto: State to pay for exams

READ: School heads warned against ignoring order on certificates

However, asking head teachers to release school leaving certificates to students who still owe money after leaving – without giving alternative solutions – creates problems for both schools and students, now and in the future. Any promises for funding to bridge this gap need to be backed by appropriate policy and budgetary measures.

MANY WILL FEEL CHEATED

There is no doubt that there are many needy students. Orphans from poor backgrounds should get special consideration, and certainly a student who has completed the full course of learning has a right to the documentation that proves as much. On the other hand, a parent cannot expect someone to feed their child for four years free of charge and get away without making any contribution.

After all if this child had been thrown out of school, they would have had to eat anyway.

Unfortunately this particular directive is tantamount to saying that parents and guardians can get away with not paying school fees. The problem with politicising the matter is that parents will no longer feel obliged to sell their goats and sheep to educate children. They will, after all, walk away with their certificates after four years of school.

Worse still, those who do sell their valuables to ensure that their children receive their certificate will feel cheated. If they have more children in secondary school, they are definitely not selling any more animals. This example is simplistic, but the goats and sheep represent all the sacrifices parents make, including taking loans, selling their shambas and engaging in back-breaking work on a daily basis to pay school fees. The directive effectively invalidates the efforts of hard-working, determined parents.

DEVOLVED VETTING SYSTEM

There are way too many able-bodied, sane people with more children than they can educate, who are looking for an opportunity to get away with not taking care of their business, and who would want to take advantage of such a directive. There has to be a way of determining those who can or cannot pay school fees, and this cannot be the responsibility of school heads and teachers.

In village schools it is much easier, given that people generally know of their neighbors’ living circumstances. With the quota system, however, schools end up with children from all counties. To determine who is truly needy, a devolved vetting system should come into effect early, as a child completes free primary education.

The least of my sympathies are with heads of schools, with so many suspicious ‘contributions’ aside from the set fees;  one is left to wonder where the money goes. But by a long shot, running a school is not an act of magic, and equally, there are many school heads doing an honest job.  

Schools have suppliers to pay, and electricity and water bills must be paid too.  In my day, students cleaned schools using a duty roster, but in this day of awareness of rights, that may be considered child labour.

Twitter: @muthonithangwa