A section of parents in West Pokot have raised concern over claims that some school heads in the region are sending learners back home over fees arrears.
Speaking to the media in Kapenguria on Thursday, the parents said the practice was exposing learners to vices such as drug abuse and teenage pregnancies as many opt to loiter on streets in major towns.
They thus called on school heads to consider other options other than sending learners back home since the move disrupted learning thereby compromising the education standards in the region.
The parents lamented that some school heads in the region had developed a habit of sending students home to collect fees immediately schools open without minding their wellbeing.
A parent, Phillip Lomong’in noted that some parents may not afford timely fees payment owing to the economic challenges occasioned by Covid-19 pandemic.
Lomongín appealed to the Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof. George Magoha to intervene adding that besides Covid 19 economic impact, most parents in the drought prone region were needy.
“It is elusive to have zero school fees balance in this region. Selling livestock which is our major source of income at this time is difficult because the market has become unreliable,” he argued alleging that some schools send away learners with a fee balance of as low as Sh500.
Another parent Caroline Chemtai urged school heads to retain learners in schools and allow them to pay the fees in installments throughout the year. “School fees can be paid anytime because it must be paid, sending learners home only interferes with their concentration in school especially at this last term of their academic calendar,” said Chemtai.
She appealed to the government to consider reducing fees owing to Covid-19 pandemic which has led to collapse of most parents’, sources of livelihood.
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SCHOOL FEES STRUCTURES
The Government of Kenya offers free day schooling and the fees structure for day schools.
All learners in public schools receive a Government subsidy (Capitation) of KES. 22,244.00 annually
Table 1: FDSE Structure
| S/NO. | ITEM | AMOUNT (KES) |
| 1 | Tuition | 4,144.00 |
| 2 | Medical/ Insurance | 2,000.00 |
| 3 | Activity | 1,500.00 |
| 4 | SMASSE | 200.00 |
| 5 | Other Vote Heads | 9,400.00 |
| 6 | Maintenance and Improvement | 5,000.00 |
| 7 | Grand Total | 22,244.00 |
Other vote heads: local travel and transport, Administration, Electricity, Personnel emolument.
Disbursement of capitation to schools will done in the ratio 50:30:20.
Boarding Schools Fees
The government provides capitation for each learner in a boarding school that is equal to capitation for each learner in a day school. In order to meet the cost of boarding, parents are expected to pay the boarding fees applicable to different categories of schools and location.
Tables 3, 4 and 5 below provide the details of the fees.
Table 3: 2020/2021 Boarding school’s fees structure- category A*
| S/NO. | VOTE HEAD | G.O.K | PARENT | TOTAL |
| 1 | Teaching, Learning Materials & Exams | 4,144.00 | 0 | 4,144.00 |
| 2 | Boarding Equipment & Stores | 0.00 | 30,385.00 | 30,385.00 |
| 3 | Maintenance & Improvement | 5,000.00 | 2,000.00 | 7,000.00 |
| 4 | Other Vote Heads | 9,400.00 | 20,371.00 | 29,771.00 |
| 5 | Activity Fees | 1,500.00 | 798.00 | 2,298.00 |
| 6 | Medical & Insurance | 2,000.00 | 0.00 | 2,000.00 |
| 7 | SMASSE | 200.00 | 0.00 | 200.00 |
| 8 | Total School Fees | 22,244.00 | 53,554.00 | 75,798.00 |
*Other vote heads Local travel and transport, Administration. Electricity, Personnel emolument.
Schools classified as Category A are:
- All National schools and
- Extra county schools that are located in the following towns: Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyeri, Thika and Eldoret ONLY.
Table 4: 2020/2021 Boarding schools fees structure- category B*
| S/NO. | VOTE HEAD | G.O.K | PARENT | TOTAL |
| 1 | Teachiing, Learning Materials & Exams | 4,144.00 | 0 | 4,144.00 |
| 2 | Boarding Equipment & Stores | 0.00 | 25,385.00 | 25,385.00 |
| 3 | Maintenance & Improvement | 5,000.00 | 2,000.00 | 7,000.00 |
| 4 | Other Vote Heads | 9,400.00 | 12,900.00 | 22,300.00 |
| 5 | Activity Fees | 1,500.00 | 250.00 | 1,750.00 |
| 6 | Medical & Insurance | 2,000.00 | 0.00 | 2,000.00 |
| 7 | SMASSE | 200.00 | 0.00 | 200.00 |
| 8 | Total School Fees | 22,244.00 | 40,535.00 | 62,779.00 |
*Other vote heads Local travel and transport, Administration, Electricity, Personnel emolument.
Schools classified as Category B* are other boarding schools including extra county schools that are located in other areas other than the town of Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyeri, Thika and Eldoret.
Table 5: 2020/2021 Fees Structure for Special Needs Schools
| S/NO. | VOTE HEAD | G.O.K | PARENT | TOTAL |
| 1 | Teachiing, Learning Materials & Exams | 4,144.00 | 0 | 4,144.00 |
| 2 | Boarding Equipment & Stores | 23,220.00 | 10,790.00 | 34,010.00 |
| 3 | Maintenance & Improvement | 5,000.00 | 2,000.00 | 7,000.00 |
| 4 | Other Vote Heads | 9,400.00 | 0.00 | 9,400.00 |
| 5 | Activity Fees | 1,500.00 | 0.00 | 1,500.00 |
| 6 | Medical & Insurance | 2,000.00 | 0.00 | 2,000.00 |
| 7 | Top Up | 12,510.00 | 0.00 | 12,510.00 |
| 8 | SMASSE | 200.00 | 0.00 | 200.00 |
| 9 | Total School Fees | 57,974.00 | 12,790.00 | 70,764.00 |
Other vote heads Local travel and transport, Administration. Electricity, Personnel emolument.
Schools classified as Special needs are those schools that cater for learners with impairment e.g visual, physical, hearing and mental. GOK has enhanced capitation to KES. 57,974.00 distributed in the fees structure shown in Table 5.
The structure includes GOK subsidy of KES. 23,220.00 per learner’ for Boarding Equipment and stores and a top up grant of 12,510.00 per learner to cater for assistive devices and any additional personnel needed.
TSC ALLOWANCES NEWS PORTALS
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