Kyeni Girls High School in Embu County has joined two other schools in the country in incorporating tax education in the syllabus following a partnership between the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KCID).
The others are AIC Chebisaas Boys in North Rift Region and Kagumo High School in Central Region with three more having been identified and awaiting launching according to KRA Northern Region Coordinator Nicholas Kinoti.
The content being taught according to the tax authority covers a wide range of tax administration matters including meaning of tax, uses of tax, mandate of KRA, tax audit process and international tax among others.
Kinoti said the partnership aims at mainstreaming tax training in the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in order to equip learners with requisite tax knowledge and mold them into responsible taxpayers.
The schools, Kinoti said, were the right ground for implementing the project as they will go a long way in changing how future generations look at taxation.
Speaking while launching a tax club at Kyeni Girls, the coordinator said the ongoing reforms in the education curriculum offered the right opportunity to introduce tax education and realize their vision of disseminating tax knowledge to the masses.
“We expect the learners to be our ambassadors in training and creating awareness on taxation to Kenyans which will also go a long way in demystifying tax for the common man,” Kinoti said.
He said, “the trickle-down effect of the project will bring a phenomenal change among taxpayers and in essence create efficiency in taxation and voluntary compliance.”
He said the uptake of the project was good though they were having a challenge bringing some of the schools on board on account of not being tax compliant.
The School Principal Ms. Leah Ngesa applauded the move saying it will go a long way in changing the attitude of Kenyans towards taxation so that they can understand and appreciate their obligation in paying taxes.
By Samuel Waititu
