End illegal school levies
The importance of education in a person’s life cannot be gainsaid. In Kenya, basic education is enshrined in the Constitution as one of the fundamental rights children are entitled to. Education opens limitless opportunities for self-development of the individual and society and has been hailed as a social equaliser.
It is, therefore, not only criminal but also amoral for any person to lay roadblocks in the way of a child’s access to education. The Ministry of Education has for many years issued directives against illegal levies but many school principals continue to demand them to the detriment of learners.
The government has failed to enforce its own directives, even as parents and guardians are forced to pay levies amounting to billions of shillings, in a practice that is tantamount to plain theft. A Nation investigation into how principals collude with business people to fleece parents in the procurement of school uniforms is an indictment of both the MoE and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The uniforms are overpriced and are only sourced from specific outlets despite Kenya being a free-market economy. In some instances, the money is paid directly to the merchants’ accounts but the uniforms provided at school to dodge detection by auditors.
Schools also continue to charge parents the illegal ‘motivation’ fees for teachers who are already on the TSC payroll. Although this is yet to be proved, the vice has been cited to fuel unhealthy competition and cheating in examinations.
The two levies push education out of the reach of learners from poor backgrounds, thereby violating a right guaranteed by the Constitution. Further, the principals make it extremely difficult for the youth to break the poverty cycle.
The MoE and TSC must work together to protect learners from exploitation by greedy school principals by punishing culprits, many of who operate openly in utter disregard of the law. Parents also need to be proactive in reporting such cases and many others through which these syndicates fleece them of their hard-earned cash.
