Give us money or we hike fees, warn principals

Barely a week after schools opened for First Term, headteachers are now warning of a major crisis in operations after the government released only Sh4,000 for each learner as the amount of money the State owes the institutions rose to Sh64 billion.

Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) is now pleading with the government to either release all the funds for the capitation to facilitate smooth learning or they would be forced to resort to other means to raise funds, including increasing school fees.

Should the situation completely get out of hand, the headteachers warned, they would not hesitate to close the institutions earlier than scheduled. Schools opened on January 8 for term one learning for 13 weeks and are scheduled to close on April 5.

Essential facilities

This week’s Form One admission has pushed the population of learners in secondary schools to about 3.8 million, exerting more pressure on the existing infrastructure and other essential facilities.

The association says each learner has only been allocated Sh4,000 in the funds recently disbursed by the government instead of the promised Sh10,000 .

KESSHA says the government still owes schools a balance of Sh12,000 carried over from last year’s disbursement.

The association noted that the disbursed Sh4,000 per learner is very little to cater for operations and has left headteachers in a dilemma.

“The set amount is not even enough for our operations. It could be better if the government gave us what we are supposed to have at least for the schools to move on,” Kuria pleaded.

KESSHA National Chairman Willie Kuria warned that the education sector is on the brink of collapsing unless the government releases all the funds.

“Schools are heavily indebted and the government’s move to disburse the little money has only left teachers in a tight corner. Unless the government releases all the money due, we shall be left with no option other than raising fees,” Kuria warned.

But even as the headteachers mulled raising fees, the National Parents Association (NPA) chairman Silas Obuhatsa urged the Teachers Service Commission to take action against schools that violate fees guidelines.

Takes action

“As parents’ association we are requesting school managers to treat these concerns carefully by involving parents where need may arise so that it is team work.TSC should take action on any school headteacher who unilaterally increases fees,” Obuhatsa told People Daily.

Early this month, State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed issued a statement indicating that the National Treasury had released Sh31.34 billion in capitation ahead of schools’ opening.

Out of the total, Sh4.74 billion was disbursed to the State Department for Basic Education towards the facilitation of Free Primary Education for term one, while Sh16.2 billion was to go towards financing free day secondary schools.

Another Sh7.6 billion was capitation for Junior Secondary Schools, Sh2.8 billion to cater for examination and invigilation costs.

Kuria said almost all schools are heavily indebted to suppliers, some of whom have taken them to court over failure to pay for the commodities supplied.

Kuria said they had expected to get Sh10,000 for the first term but the huge deficit has left them in a dilemma over whether they should first clear the old debts or order for new supplies and incur more debts .

“If we do not get the supplies we might be forced to close down schools because this would be a serious crisis,” he warned.

“We have raised the issue with the ministry countless times and I think it’s high time someone listens to us because the situation right now is very dire,” said Kuria.

Kuria disclosed that he pointed out that last year, all schools were only allocated Sh10, 000 out of the Sh22, 000 supposed to have been disbursed for the entire year, leaving a balance of Sh12, 000.

“Because education is the future of the children it should be given priority and disburse adequate funds into the sector,” he added.

The KESSHA chairman disclosed that some principals have already been forced to go back to the parents to ask for more money to keep the schools running.

“If we decide to raise fees, we are likely to attract uproar from parents because they will think we are misappropriating the resources from the government , which is not the case,” Kuria disclosed.

Five years

He further noted that the government has not remitted to schools a cumulative Sh64 billion over the past five years and accused the government of always reneging on payment of carried over balance once the year lapses.

Kuria disclosed that KESSHA has since petitioned Parliament to push the government to release all the funds owed to schools to enable them settle all the pending bills.

“We are feeling threatened because the suppliers are calling us day and night, forcing us to switch off our phones at times because we have no answers,” he added.

He further said some school heads were forced to raise money from other means when schools reopened last week to cater for water and electricity supply that had been disconnected due to heavy debts.

Murang’a School For Hearing Impaired head teacher Charity Wanjiku said her institution faces double challenges faced by regular schools due to the financial crisis.

Wanjiku said the children require extra care such as special diet and medical care and materials for learning which have become difficult to provide due to lack of funds.

“The highest grant we get is barely enough to cater for the needs of these children, forcing us to appeal for more funds,” said Wanjiku.