Parents in Nyeri are bracing for tougher days ahead as schools prepare to open their doors to learners beginning next week.
Schools closed on April 21 for a two-week holiday and are expected to open on May 8 for the start of the Second Term.
But even as pupils prepare to resume learning, the majority of parents who KNA spoke to are lamenting about the high cost of living in the country saying it has made things worse for them leaving them with nothing to save for future expenses.
They have therefore complained that it might prove an uphill task for them to pay up school fees for their children by the time schools reopen.
“The situation we are in is quite bad since the little money one is earning is quickly being swallowed up by a dozen and one other bills. You cannot therefore talk about setting aside money for things like school fees. When the time comes, I will have to enter into an agreement with the school principal on how I plan to pay up fees for my child,” Patrick Mwenda explains.
Daniel Kariuki, a boda boda operator says every Kenyan must be prepared to shoulder the high cost of living until such a time when the economy will improve.
He is also warning the public against falling prey to the culture of blaming the government for the economic challenges affecting the country terming such laments as unhelpful.
Kariuki also urged parents who cannot pay school fees in full to make arrangements with school management on how they can navigate the challenge without hampering the operations of such institutions.
“I rarely had issues paying my bills including school fees for my children until the cost of fuel and other basic commodities shot up. But as Kenyans we cannot blame the government entirely for these challenges but should try to work around them as the State does its part.
Nevertheless, schools should understand the situation parents are in and give them the necessary advice on how they can pay up in agreed instalments or otherwise,” he explains.
His sentiments are echoed by Purity Muthoni who argues that parents and schools should enter into a mutual understanding on modalities and ways of paying fees for their children in light of the prevailing harsh economic times.
She is nevertheless glad her children are through school and is therefore not confronted with such a challenge.
“Whether or not one has entered into an agreement with a school over paying fees for his children, the fact of the matter is that school fees must eventually be cleared. It becomes an even bigger challenge when one has outstanding fee balances accrued from the previous term.
Parents with such challenges might find themselves in a stressful situation considering the fact that there are other pressing needs that need to be taken care of,” she points out.
Parents have been hit hard by the revised school structure since January this year after the Government scrapped the Sh8,000 Covid -19 Pandemic Relief Program that had been in place since 2021.
While making clarification on the changes late last year, Education CS Ezekiel Machogu said the move was due to the normalization in the school calendar.
He said unlike in the previous year when schools operated on a compressed calendar resulting from disruptions by the Covid 19 pandemic, going forth, term dates will resume as before.
“From January 23(2023), we will have three terms the way it used to be before so the fee structure remains the same as that of two years ago,” Machogu said while speaking at Wajir High School on November 23 last year.
“Anybody saying the figure has been changed, that is not here in Kenya. Changing school fees would need another taskforce,” he said.
According to the circular from the Ministry of Education, parents are now required to pay Sh53, 554 for national and extra-county secondary schools located in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyeri, Thika and Eldoret.
By Samuel Maina and Mercy Ndegwa
