Junior Secondary: parents rejects newly increased fees for students
Parents who have students reporting to Junior Secondary School (JSS) said they are not ready to pay any extra fees as they demand an increase in enrollment.
When the Ministry of Education and Culture prepares JSS residential schools, parents are asked to pay school fees for 1.2 million children entering Grade 7.
The issue of school fees was discussed at a stakeholder meeting to discuss JSS at the Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development (KICD) in Nairobi last week.
When contacted by Saturday Nation, Education Secretary Ezekiel Machgu and Secretary General Dr Belio Kipsang, who attended the meeting, did not respond to our queries.
“I started implementing the JSS guidelines, they were very clear that the government would introduce capitation and there would be school fee issues for parents,” said a source who attended the closed-door meeting.
The promise of free education
National Parents Association chairman Silas Obuhatsa said parents should not pay school fees as the Kwanza Kenya administration will provide free education to Kenyans.
He said the implementation of JSS comes at a time when Kenyans are facing high costs and a strained economy.
The problem of time should not be used everywhere because JSS is in the primary school building. “It’s like children going to Grade 7 from Grade 6 to Grade 7 in the 8-4-4 system,” Obuhatsa said.
He said 8-4-4 elementary school students do not pay school fees.
The government promised that education from primary school to university will be free. As parents, we demand that the government should be very careful in paying tuition fees for JSS students. We will not pay school fees for JSS,” he said.
Instead, the union called on the state to improve qualifications for primary and secondary schools.
“At the primary school level, fees should be increased from Sh1,450 to Sh1,750 and for secondary schools from Sh22,500 to Sh25,500. But in JSS, we did not agree with the government that the fee will be paid to have a primary school house,” he said.
The union said it could only negotiate with the government to pay fees in secondary schools.
But in JSS, the government should know that we are doing like at the primary level,” he said.
No guidelines
Fuad Ali, Kenya’s deputy head of primary schools, said there are currently no guidelines on fees.
“At the moment there is no indication of payment; the important thing is to ensure 100 percent pass. As the head of the school, we will accept students. Instructions will be sent in the next week. But now, the government is assessing the school’s readiness for JSS,” said Ali. At the primary school level, tuition fees should increase from Sh1,450 to Sh1,750 and for secondary schools from Sh22,500 to Sh25,500. But in JSS, we did not agree with the government that the fee will be paid to have a primary school house,” he said.
The union said it could only negotiate with the government to pay fees in secondary schools.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu, who attended the KICD meeting, said the government has assured parents that education is accessible.
“We say JSS, don’t pay attention to what will be paid as school fees. Who told you about school fees? I’m glad the government is keeping quiet on this issue. “The parents started preparing the skills curriculum even before it was announced,” he said.
However, parents said they have to go through difficult times.
“When these students enter JSS, the government is not willing to declare itself on the issue of subsidized secondary education. Either way, that’s secondary. Let’s pray for free education in this country. Let the government be responsible,” he said.
Extra charges
Kenya Union of Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary General Akelo Misori says school fees are unavoidable.
“If government bills are to be paid at around Sh22,300 as usual, one cannot afford the extra expenses and clothing,” Misori said.
However, he said the fees should be lower than those charged in secondary schools.
“This is because students will walk from home to school, except for those who choose to go to 6th grade school,” he said.
But according to education stakeholders, even though JSS lives in primary school, parents have no choice but to pay the fees because they are in secondary school.
During the Kenya Primary Schools Headteachers Association conference in Mombasa last December, chairman Johnson Nzioka urged the state to increase capitation.
Mr Nzioka said the last review was done in 2010, which was capped at Sh1,400 per child.
“This figure falls far below the requirements to effectively run a primary school… In our proposal, we have taken into account inflation rates, cost of living and depreciation,” he said.
Mr Nzioka said the cost of running a primary school with 400 pupils is Sh3 million per year.
“This calculated per child will come to Sh7,500 per year,” he said.
The fees headache comes as the government started the assessment and registration of primary schools for junior secondary to host Grade 7 learners ahead of schools reopening for the first term, with the first cohort expected to start school on January 30.
In the exercise, a multi-agency team led by education and security officials is inspecting both private and public schools to ensure they have the capacity and infrastructure to host the students.
Primary institutions lacking the capacity to domicile Junior Secondary Schools will not be allowed to host Grade 7 students.
The Ministry of Education will, instead, transfer the students to neighbouring institutions.