The Government says it will not dictate to schools’ heads on the modalities to employ when asking for fees from parents, Nyeri County Director of Education Sabina Aroni has said.
Instead, school authorities will have to negotiate with individual parents on the criteria which they intend to use in settling their fee balances without hampering the running of essential services in schools.
Aroni noted that despite the recent announcement by the Education CS Prof. George Magoha advising schools against turning away students due to lack of fees, such an arrangement can only be carried out after a candid discussion by those involved, adding that funds remain key in the day to day running of learning institutions.
“Schools need money to run and if parents don’t pay up how do we run our schools?,’’ posed the official.
“If the water is disconnected, power cut off and food is not paid for, that is a crisis and that is the responsibility of parents and principals. We are not even interfering with that arrangement and therefore let there be an agreement on how they will handle that,” she stressed.
Last month, Prof. Magoha directed school principals not to turn away students due to lack of fees but come up with an agreeable formula on how the money will be settled.
The CS who was speaking at Barani Secondary school in Kilifi county told school heads to be considerate to the plight of parents’ majority of who have been rendered jobless due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
“Do not send a Kenyan child home. If the parent comes with Sh4, 000 and the balance is Sh10, 000, take the Sh4, 000 and agree when he is going to bring the Sh10, 000, unless you know where Coronavirus came from and you know when it will end,” directed the CS.
On the ongoing construction of new classrooms under the Competency Based Curriculum Infrastructure Development Programme, Aroni assured education stakeholders that work was in progress as per schedule.
She said a number of sites which had been approved for the erection of the classes have been handed over and groundbreaking had already taken place.
The director however said they are still waiting for a comprehensive report from all the sub county committees mandated in overseeing the programme enabling them to analyse the entire project with a view of addressing any available gaps.
“There were reports in regard to challenges in getting adequate contractors but in such cases, we opted in considering one contractor in doing two classes instead of one. But as of now Nyeri has taken off with this programme with the majority of sites having been handed over after the groundbreaking ceremonies. We are however still waiting for the sub county committee to send us their report to ensure we get the full scenario and avoid making errors,’’ she said.
Construction of the classes is expected to kick off this month and end in April this year.
A total of 199 classes are expected to be constructed in Nyeri County during the 12-week period.
Those who intend to apply for the tenders are expected to among others have a proven track record in the scope of work, besides being in possession of basic requirements such as full-day contact and registered Mpesa accounts.
The onus of identifying contractors and monitoring of the construction works has been given to the Deputy County Commissioners and chiefs who are expected to ensure there is seamless performance.
During last year’s Mashujaa celebrations, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced plans by his administration to construct more than 10,000 classrooms ahead of the transition of learners from primary to junior secondary school.
The president also directed the National Treasury to make available Sh8.1 billion for the project to support the primary to secondary school shift in the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC).
“Ministry of Education, jointly with the Ministry of Interior and the National Treasury, shall establish a framework for the construction of the over 10,000 classrooms needed to provide the additional learning space required for the one million new students set to join junior secondary,” said the Head of State in his Mashujaa Day speech.
In 2023 CBC pioneer learners are expected to join junior secondary school after sitting the Grade Six national examinations, while the present Class Seven learners under the old 8-4-4 system will join Form One after sitting KCPE examinations.
At least 2,571,044 Grade six and Standard Eight learners are expected to join secondary school next year.
