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Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has said any changes to school fees must undergo a rigorous consultative process before approval.

Machogu made the remarks as he explained that school fees for all categories of secondary schools remain unchanged and that no extra levies should be imposed, despite the changes in economy.

He also said any changes to the schools fee must be subjected to a taskforce review, where all education stakeholders must give their input.

Vulnerable backgrounds

“The Government set up a taskforce in 2018 where all stakeholders including Principals and a conclusion was made that the amount of school fees chargeable was 53,000 for national and Extra county schools and 45000 for county schools,” the CS explained after he launched the KCB Foundation scholarship programme for 1,000 children from vulnerable backgrounds.

“We cannot at this particular time be able to increase school fees because everyone is feeling the pinch of the economy. As we move forward, we will be able to come up with another taskforce, which again will lead a stakeholder engagement. Out of that, we will be able to say what to factor in – certain issues like cost of living – but that will come in the future or at an appropriate time but as of now the school fees remains the same,” he added.

He said the ministry does an assessment every year to determine the amount of money they are supposed to give to schools and especially boarding schools. He also said the government has been giving Sh22,240 per student in boarding schools and already, part of the money has been released amounting to Sh16.5 billion to all schools.

He also urged principals to give the correct enrollment figures captured on the National Education Management Information System (MEMIS) for sharing capitation.

“According to our assessment, for now we consider the amount that parents are supposed to pay alright. What used to happen is that there are schools which were charging Sh200,000 and education was unaffordable to many. Even now, we want education accessible to all Kenyans because this is something entrenched in the constitution,” he said.

Operation costs

He said that the Government does not want to overstretch parents to pay more even because of the current economic situation.

“Once the principals do the procurements and other operation costs, you even find there is a balance for some of these schools. In some others, you will find they are undertaking infrastructure development within and the money comes from savings done out of what the Government gives and parents pay as school fees,” he explained.

This came as Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KSSHA) Chairman, Willy Kuria said the Government gives money to schools according to NEMIS data.

He said the Government owes schools Sh64 billion since 2019. He said principals do not have authority to increase school fees but instead call a parents and board of management meeting to explain the cash flow challenges and discuss the way forward.