No learner joining Junior Secondary School (JSS), should be turned away due to lack of school attire, the Government has clarified.
The announcement follows reports by the Ministry of Education, in which some JSS were alleged to be charging money for expanding infrastructure, to accommodate learners joining Grade 8.
In addition, some school heads are said to be demanding new school uniforms for pupils joining Grade 7.
At least 1,282,574 Grade Six pupils who sat for the Kenya Primary Schools Education Assessment (KPSEA), last year are supposed to have transited to JSS this year.
Individual schools hosting JSS learners adopted discrete school uniforms, as part of Government Policy to distinguish Grade 7 pupils from the rest of the learners in the lower classes.
But Central Region Director of Education, Sabina Aroni, has directed pupils who cannot afford the new school attire, to continue putting on the old ones until such a time when their guardians will be in a position to buy a new set.
She noted that while the JSS uniform is unique from that worn by learners in the lower primary section, there is a need to give parents who cannot afford to buy the new set of attire time to do so without necessarily inconveniencing the learners.
“The parents are supposed to buy new uniforms because the Junior Secondary Schools adopted certain uniforms for JSS learners. But if the parent is not in a position to afford it right away, that is not a hindrance. They (Grade 7) can continue with the uniforms they had in Primary School, till such a time when the parent can be able to acquire uniforms for them,” she clarified.
On January 12 this year Education Cabinet Secretary, Dr Ezekiel Machogu, released a press statement clarifying the Government’s position regarding learners in Grade 7 and those joining Grade 8.
Among issues, Dr Machogu’s statement included a directive that allowed all the Grade 7 learners to attend school in uniforms that they had in their former class, as parents make efforts to buy new ones in line with JSS requirements.
He also ordered Schools to desist from asking parents to give money for the construction of classes for Grade 8 learners and said the Government was going to spend Sh 12.8 billion over the next year to construct more than 15,000 classrooms for that purpose.
Aroni has also clarified the Government’s position regarding the disbursement of money needed for capitation purposes by insisting the funds have already been sent to individual school accounts.
She has also refuted claims that school heads are yet to receive a single coin from the Government, one week into the first term, and said she has not received any complaint from any school Principal in the region.
“It’s true the money for capitation has already been disbursed, but it’s only the head teachers who can confirm this. The initial information that has been communicated by our seniors is that money has been released,” she has stated.
Early this month, the Government said it would release some Sh.31.34 billion as capitation ahead of schools’ reopening on January 8.
Out of this money, Sh.4.74 billion was to be allocated to the State Department for Basic Education to facilitate the provision of free primary education for Term 1.
Additionally, the State Department was to give Sh.7.6 billion as a capitation for JSS.
By Samuel Maina
