Senators oppose call by headteachers to increase school fees to bridge capitation gap
Under the school heads’ proposal, parents with children in national schools would see fees rise from Sh53,554 to Sh73,182 annually, an increase of Sh19,628.
Senators have dismissed a proposal by the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) to increase school fees, instead calling for a review of government capitation to schools.
The school heads argue that rising costs of essential commodities, a funding shortfall and delayed capitation disbursements have made it difficult for schools to operate under the current financial framework.
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“The current capitation of Sh22,244 per learner was last reviewed seven years ago and is, therefore, incongruent with the prevailing economic realities,” read the proposal by school principals.
However, Senators have opposed the suggestion to increase fees, urging the Ministry of Education to reject any attempt to burden parents further. Instead, they want the ministry to raise capitation to match the rising cost of living.
Nominated Senator Catherine Mumma questioned why the government has not reviewed school capitation since 2018 despite the rising cost of food, utilities and learning materials. She demanded that the Ministry of Education explain the delay to the Senate’s Education Committee.
Currently, the government provides Sh15,042 per student in Junior Secondary Schools and Sh22,244 for those in free day secondary schools and national schools.
Under the school heads’ proposal, parents with children in national schools would see fees rise from Sh53,554 to Sh73,182 annually, an increase of Sh19,628.
Extra county and county school fees would rise from Sh45,554 to Sh68,023 per year. Additionally, the principals have proposed introducing fees for students in day schools, requiring them to pay an extra Sh5,372 on top of the government-funded capitation.
Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu criticised the proposal, saying that parents are already overwhelmed by the high cost of living.
“Parents also have many difficulties because the cost of living in Kenya has gone up and everyone is feeling it,” she said.
“If we increase school fees for secondary schools, what will we be doing to parents and where are they going to get money? We should not add an extra burden to the parents,” she added.
Nominated Senator Beatrice Ogola emphasised the need to address the twin challenge of delayed disbursement and stagnant capitation, saying it must be treated as a national priority.
“Increasing the fees when parents are struggling to put food on the table means many poor children will be forced to drop out of schools,” she warned.
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