Students sent back home in numbers over unpaid fees.
On April 3, 2023, parents pick up their kids from Mukumu Girls High School in Kakamega. The institution was shut down permanently by Ministry of Education officials as a result of the deaths of two pupils.
Schools have started the third term under significant economic challenges and dismal conditions. Due to significant debts, several schools have been blacklisted and vendors are reluctant to supply them with food. To lessen the load on parents, school administrators have portrayed a bleak picture of the problems that lie ahead.
The school’s survival during the previous term seemed to be due to divine intervention. Nonetheless, Eunice Mwaiseghe, the principal of St. Thomas Girls Secondary School, emphasized that the school primarily depends on parents’ kind donations for meal contributions.
The lack of teachers has resulted in a high salary bill that is impeding the operation of the institution. Mwaiseghe disclosed a Sh28 million debt for overdue school tuition.
Prior to the closure, head teachers bought food for 50 percent less than it is now. For instance, the price of sugar and legumes has significantly increased. Delays in the release of capitation money have made the situation worse. Head teachers who must deal with unpaid fees have been stressed with the higher food costs. Government financing has also contributed to lack of all these funds to run institutions.
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The similar feeling was expressed by principals from several locations, who emphasized the pressing necessity for the prompt release of capitation grants. They questioned the Third Term’s budget allocation, pointing to the Second Term’s partial funding percentages of 19% and 18%.
The operation of the school is put at risk as a result of delayed capitation funding and unpaid fees. According to reports, employees and vendors have not been paid as a result of financial hardships, which have been made worse by rising food prices. Murang’a Boys High School Principal Willy Kuria emphasized the need to solve the financial situation in schools and suggested slightly higher tuition rates to cover rising costs.
Kuria’s suggestion is a response to the problem that schools all throughout the country are having with rising food expenses. Finding solutions is urgent because his institution alone owes roughly Sh15 million in unpaid tuition.
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Students sent back home in numbers over unpaid fees.