CS warns headteachers against flouting fee guidelines

Education Cabinet Secretaty George Magoha at Ombaka Secondary School in Nyando, Kisumu on January 8, 2020.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha at Ombaka Secondary School in Nyando, Kisumu on January 8, 2021.

Photo credit: Tonny Omondi | Nation Media Group

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha on Friday warned secondary school headteachers against flouting government fee guidelines.

He accused some school heads of increasing fees at the expense of parents.

"They should stop before we expose and punish them," he said at Embu County Primary School during a tour of learning institutions in the Embu region.

Prof Magoha said parents were struggling to survive and they could not afford more learning costs for their children.

"It is inhuman to punish parents during the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.

The CS also cautioned against expelling students who have not paid fees.

"There are some students whose parents can't raise fees. Such students should be spared. However parents who are financially stable should pay up so that school programmes can run uninterrupted," he said.

He dismissed the claim that the government has not released cash for free education, insisting that Sh14.6 billion has already been dispatched to the learning institutions.

"Those claiming that money has not been released are not being rational," he said.

The Cabinet Secretary said that 1.7million pupils across the country will receive sanitary towels.

He also said that a Sh1.8billion school feeding programme will be rolled out in dry areas.

"For children from these areas to remain in class, they must be supplied with food," he said.

On national examinations, Prof Magoha said preparations have been completed.