Loopholes Principals Use To Inflate Fees
Loopholes Principals Use To Inflate Fees
Loopholes Principals Use To Inflate Fees
A stalemate between Parliament and the Ministry of Education has allowed school principals to raise school fees by inflating the cost of uniforms. The National Assembly adopted a motion to require all schools to use a uniform, which was supported by MP Gathoni Wamuchomba of the Githunguri Constituency.
In spite of this, the Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu’s Ministry of Education has not yet developed a plan for carrying out the law. The Ministry has issued a directive cautioning school principals not to exaggerate the expenses, even though it has not yet implemented the universal uniform policy.
The government issued a warning to all school heads, instructing them to advise parents where to purchase school uniforms. The Ministry also forbade school administrators from setting prices for school uniforms, claiming that parents had the right to shop around for reasonably priced goods.
The impasse between the two branches of government has allowed school principals to continue charging outrageous prices for the uniforms. The head of the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha), Kahi Indimuli, promised in June 2023 that school principals would still be in charge of setting uniform costs. “I want to reassure the country that we don’t utilize our schools as a cash cow. We give parents a chance to simply, affordably, and safely obtain uniforms,” Indimuli said in defense of the schools’ decision to disregard the order. Indimuli defended school administrators by pointing out that their establishments use competitive bidding and publicize the commodities’ supply.
On Sunday, Wamuchomba said that because parents were unaware of the circular and unable to assert their rights, they were being blackmailed by the schools.She mentioned that there had been rumors that certain associations that followed uniforms were going to court to prevent the Ministry from putting the circular into effect.
