Education Cabinet Secretary (CS), Professor George Magoha, has cautioned parents against keeping Form-one students at home for lack of school fees.
Magoha noted that all public Day schools in the country were free and parents who cannot raise enough school fees for their children to join boarding schools, should take them to the nearest Day schools.
Speaking in Isinya, Kajiado County during a mop-up exercise, the CS revealed that the government is offering free secondary education in public day schools and all a student needs is uniform as the fees is already catered for.
“All education officials must mop-up all students and take them to the nearest day schools because they are absolutely free, the government has catered for free secondary education and all a child needs, is uniform. “he said.
He revealed that some parents were being cunning and were keeping their children at home in pretense that they are unable to pay their fees.
Magoha directed education officials to do thorough background checks to ensure that only those who are truly needy are assisted.
The CS further instructed all school heads not to send home any form one student who reports to school without fees.
During the mop-up exercise, Neema Nanjala, who scored 313 marks in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination (KCPE) and had not yet joined secondary school due to lack of school fees, was taken to Kisaju Deepak School by the CS, who ensured that she had the needed uniform and books.
On the Competency Based Classrooms (CBC), Magoha revealed that the Ministry of Education has so far completed 6,497 classrooms in the First Phase out of the over 10,000 expected to host junior secondary school students.
The CS, while inspecting the construction of a CBC classroom in Merishow School in Isinya, added that private secondary schools had already embarked on building the classrooms.
Magoha urged the private schools to fast-track the construction and completion of the classrooms in time for inspection next week to be able to get the go ahead to admit junior learners next year.
“We are going to begin inspection of the building of CBC classrooms in private schools in the next one week. The schools are working with us to augment the government’s efforts in realizing the construction of the 10,000 CBC classes,” the CS said.
By Rop Janet
