Africa-Press – Kenya. Education CS George Magoha has slashed the amount of fees paid at secondary schools, stating that his ministry formulated a new academic calendar that reduced the number of weeks in a term from 39 to 30.
Magoha’s ministry noted that parents were grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected livelihoods. Workers were retrenched and others subjected to salary cuts.
In a circular dated Wednesday, June 16, sent to all school heads Magoha through Education CAS Juma Jwan announced that the new fee structure will be enforced starting July 26, 2021, to March 4, 2022.
Learners in national and extra-county schools in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Thika and Nyeri will pay Ksh 45,000 per year. This is Ksh10,000 less than the Ksh55,000 they have been paying annually.
Those in county and sub-county schools in the rest of the country will pay Ksh 35,000.
Students in special needs schools will pay ksh10,680 annually, Ksh21,920 less than the Ksh32,600 they have been remitting yearly.
“The Ministry of Education has revised fees guidelines payable by parents.
“It is the responsibility of the principal to ensure accuracy of the data available on National Education Management Information Systems(NEMIS), where every learner is fully registered on the platform,” CAS Jwan cautioned school heads from restructuring the released fee structures.
Jwan added that the government will disburse Ksh22,224 per student yearly. The money will be released in four quarters of Ksh5,560. The capitation fee will cover curricular, co-curricular, and medical insurances.
On Monday, June 7, Magoha called upon parents to pay fees after school heads lamented that schools were at risk of falling into a crisis
“Our population is a very interesting one. The majority of the people who are not paying fees can afford to pay,” Magoha wondered.
