A recent agitation by school heads to have school fees hiked has been put on hold after Education CS Julius Ogamba termed the move as unprocedural.
Ogamba noted that while the tutors may have a valid reason to call for hiking of fees, existing legal framework dictates that such a change can only be done after long and in-depth discussions from all stakeholders.
The CS who was addressing the press on the sidelines of a groundbreaking ceremony for school projects at the Kihate Comprehensive school in Mukurwe-ini on Thursday said Principals must therefore manage with the current capitation until such a time when a new circular on fee review will be in place.
The school improvement project is being undertaken courtesy of Safaricom Foundation and involves construction of new classes, labs, modern kitchen and water supply tanks for learners. It is expected to be completed by the start of next year.
“When a school wants to have a discussion about moving the fees from Sh. 53,000 that is allowed, and these are basically boarding schools, they normally have a discussion. There is a procedure that is applied under the basic Education Act,” pointed out Ogamba.
“They (Principals)have to call the parents and they have to discuss. Once they agree there is a long process of approval and it has to come all the way to the Ministry of Education for that approval to be granted. So, the principals are not allowed to just increase fees at their own volition.” Ogamba explained.
Last month Secondary school heads had proposed an increase in school fees citing rising operational costs, the growing demands of Competency-Based Education (CBE) compounded by delays in disbursement of capitation.
The proposals, arrived at during the 49th Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) conference in Mombasa had also sought a review of the current school fees structure that was introduced in 2015.
They had proposed learners in national schools to pay Sh. 87,781 annually after government capitation, while those in extra-county and county boarding schools pay Sh. 83,622.
Day schools under the Free Day Secondary Education programme would charge Sh7,675 per learner annually after government support, under the proposal.
The CS also dismissed claims that the number of learners joining Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the country was falling and insisted that the numbers had actually gone up.
Ogamba stated that since the Kenya Kwanza government took over in 2022, the number of learners joining technical training institutions had actually gone up from 300,000 to 1.1 million this year.
He stated that the government intends to increase this number to 2 million in a few years’ time to ensure candidates who fail to get placement at the institutions of higher learning find a place where they can advance their career goals.
“There is no enrollment that is going down. Yesterday we released the placement results for 293,869 students who have been placed to Degree, Diploma, craft certificate and artisan certificate across tertiary and higher education institutions. Last year the number was 185,000, this year the number is 293,000. We are working together as a whole government approach to ensure that the transition from one stage to another is 100 per cent,’’ he added.
The CS also clarified that he had already directed the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) Service to allow those who had not applied for admission into various institutions of learning to be given a period of one month to do so.
In addition, learners who intend to apply for an inter-university transfer have also been given a similar window period to write to KUCCPS for consideration for the changes.
Meanwhile, the Government has confirmed the release of Sh 1.5 billion as payment for teachers who marked the 2025 Kenya Junior Secondary School (KJSEA) exams.
The tutors have now been requested to confirm payment of the money with their respective banks beginning today (Thursday).
Ogamba has also clarified that plans are still on course to hire an additional 24,000 teachers this month as part of the Government programs to address staffing gaps in public schools in the country.
“We did receive about Sh. 1.5 billion that was pending for the examiners of the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment and the payments to the examiners started yesterday and will be completed today. I want to thank them for being patient because it had taken a long time due to financial challenges,” he explained.
By Samuel Maina
