Principals Plan to Increase School Fees and Scrap Some Programs
Principals Plan to Increase School Fees and Scrap Some Programs. Secondary school principals highlighted their concerns about the delays in the distribution of capitation during the Kessha annual conference in Mombasa, which has prompted them to think about raising tuition costs.
Additionally, teachers have thought of leaving some programmes due to the rising cost of goods and services.
The government has not paid the Sh9,000 capitation arrears per student for the academic years 2021 and 2022, according to Kahi Indimuli, chairman of Kessha.
The difficulties that rising food prices pose for schools’ ability to run efficiently were cited by more than 8,000 principals.
They assert that instead of the annual Sh22,240 per student, the government only distributed Sh17,000 and Sh18,000 for the two years.
The administrators pointed out that because the government only pays for tuition, they are still responsible for paying for additional programmes like accommodation, the wages of temporary teaching personnel, and food.
Some schools are struggling, according to principals, and may have to cut back on some programmes.
Parents have in fact been burdened by some institutions (through fee rises). Indimuli claims that schools are functioning under ludicrous circumstances and could have to raise fees.
The administration has been oblivious to the insufficient capitation budget for the past two years, notwithstanding the increased cost of commodities.
Principals are finding it difficult to pay the debts that the schools have accrued, so we are pleading with the government to provide this money before July 30, said Indimuli.
The delay, according to Mr. Gilbert Wamalwa, principal of the Kibomet School in Kitale, has done a lot of damage and badly damaged the wellbeing of the pupils.
“Parents must foot the bill for the high price of educating their kids… Suppliers have sued a few of the institutions in court.
According to Victoria Angwenyi, director of School Audit Services at the Ministry of Education, while tuition fees are covered by the government, all other costs associated with attending school must be paid for by the parents.
Parent must make a decision. Inform the parents that the government pays for education, not boarding, if they send their child to a boarding school. Stop pulling and pushing. Parents must pay for the other services and programmes; the government only covers capitation, according to Angwenyi.
In order to help the ministry determine whether or not their institutions need more teachers and infrastructure, she asked the heads to produce financial reports in accordance with the International Public Accounting Standards and disclose their enrollment capacity and performance.
3,000 institutions have received capitation from the government since January, according to Paul Kibet, a director in the ministry, but not all of them have reported receipt. “If you don’t acknowledge receiving the capitation, it means you haven’t received the money, and it shifts the responsibility to parents,” said Kibet.
Meanwhile, school administrators have been urged to develop and support teachers’ leadership skills. The International Confederation of Principals’ president, Peter Kent, said that principals should make use of the abilities of other teachers and even students.
“In order to finish other jobs, we must make use of other people’s talents. During the conference, Prof. Kent said, “We must work as a team in collaboration with everyone.”
By asking the students if they felt their lessons were beneficial, we may encourage them to participate in decision-making.
He said that given the implications of artificial intelligence, educators must take information technology seriously because it is the direction in which the world is moving.