By Michael Ollinga and Sally Koskei
Eldoret, Kenya: School heads and other administrators in North Rift are imposing exorbitant charges for interviews, graduation ceremonies and other extra-curriculum activities.
Currently most schools, both private and public, have imposed high charges for new students who need to do test interviews to gain admission, and those progressing to higher learning levels from Early Childhood Education (ECDE) classes to main primary classes.
The graduation tradition previously limited to college and university students has been embraced in primary schools, where pre-primary pupils are required to attend a graduation ceremony before proceeding to Standard One.
In some schools KCPE candidates are required to go back to their schools for graduation after their results are released while in others, pupils attend graduations whenever proceeding to the next class.
The graduation ceremonies however come with a lot of demands for parents and guardians who need to heavily pay for gowns and other ceremonial requirements.
John Boor, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) executive secretary in Wareng says such expenses are unnecessary because they do not add any value to basic curriculum administration.
He blames the Ministry of Education for loosening their vigil on private schools.
