Boarding School Principals Protest High Cost Of Living, Fees Crisis
The rising cost of food and other necessities is posing a challenge to boarding secondary schools, with principals struggling to keep the institutions running while fees arrears amount to billions of shillings.
A group of principals stated that they are balancing a lack of resources to keep students engaged while also adhering to the government directive not to send students home due to a lack of fees.
According to principals who spoke to THE STANDARD on anonymity, suppliers have threatened legal action for non-payment of pending bills for the supply of goods and services.
According to the principals, with the government aiming for a 100% transition, some students are being enrolled with no fees or uniforms, putting additional strain on institutions.
“Parents are taking advantage of government directive to principals not to send students home because of non-payment of fees. This poses a great crisis in running schools without resources,” said one principal.
The principal also stated that inflation is so high that prices purchased today will cost more when needed in the next few days, despite the fact that parents are lax in paying school fees.
The principals noted that the school fiscal year used to run from January to December. Schools used to do tendering during the harvest season when prices were favorable, but after the Covid-19 pandemic, it was moved to June, and tendering falls around June when prices for basic commodities are competitive.
They claim that with millions in fees arrears, it would be difficult to recover because some students who passed the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination had already collected their certificates.
“The timing of Form One intake this year was very poor as it caught most parents off guard. Some of the students have not taken up their slots. We were to admit 192 students but only 142 have turned up. Checking on NEMIS, they have not been taken by other schools, meaning they might still be at home.”
Some of the students who reported arrived in their primary school uniforms, and the school must deal with a rainbow of colors.
Principals claimed that creditors are constantly on their tails, and that they have been forced to produce their own food to supplement government assistance.
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“We do not buy dairy products, maize, and horticultural products but with a population of over 1,700, parents have accumulated fees arrears to over Sh20 million,“ added the principal, who added that paying school fees at two-month intervals is difficult for most parents.
Mr. Sostein Bellat, the chairman of Kuppet in Uasin Gishu, and his Turkana counterpart Athiibok Nariamao Simon both stated that school administrations rely on debts to keep students enrolled and urged the government to allocate adequate funds and release them on time.
Boarding School Principals Protest High Cost Of Living, Fees Crisis
