Parents will have to dig deeper into their pockets come January as the government pulls out the Covid-19 subsidy programme that had reduced high school fees from Ksh. 53,554 to Ksh. 45,054.
The ministry of education, led by CS Ezekial Machogu stated that it has done away with the subsidy programme that had been placed for secondary school education.
Why the government is raising secondary school fees
The ministry had earlier stated that the subsidy was due to the compressed school calendar that had made it difficult for parents to meet the required funds on time. As the calendar returns to normal in January 2023, the school fee subsidy will no longer be serving its initially intended purpose.
Currently, national Schools pay Sh45,054 while the Extra County and County schools pay Sh35,035.
But come next year, children in national and extra-county schools will pay Ksh53,554, up from the current Ksh45,054.
Learners in county and sub-county boarding secondary schools will be required to part with Ksh.40,535 per year, up from KSh.35,000.
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Details of the circular
“In order to meet the cost of boarding as well as maintenance and improvement parents will pay Ksh.40,535,” the circular reads.
This will apply to national and extra county schools in seven counties.
The new guidelines were written to all county directors of education and signed by early learning and basic education PS Julius Jwan.
“The counties are Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyeri, Thika and Eldoret,” the circular reads.
The new directive applies to boarding schools.
How Ruto is solving the economic crisis in Kenya
Further, the move by the 13th government comes at a moment when Ruto is trying to solve economic crisis that has hit the country, by eliminating all non-essential expenditures including fuel subsidies, etc.
A month before this report, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekial Machogu had stated that the government would stop funding universities. Seeing that the statement caused unrest among students, lecturers and higher education administrators, the CS took back his words, leaving many Kenyans relieved.
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