Knut opposes Kaimenyi's new fees guidelines for secondary schools

Kenya: The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has opposed the new fees guidelines for secondary schools issued by the Ministry of Education, arguing the reductions will disrupt budgets.

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi directed schools to ensure fees are spread across the three terms on a 50:30:20 ratio.

The annual fees for day secondary schools is capped at Sh9,374, boarding (Sh53,553) and Sh37,210 for special needs schools.

Some national schools have been charging parents in excess of Sh100,000, which prompted public uproar.

However, in a letter addressed to Mr Kaimenyi, Knut has rejected the new fees structure saying they were not consulted and asking the CS to convene a meeting of school managers to avert a likely crisis in schools.

"We are deeply concerned about the directive, which seems to be executed under duress born out of political pressure and activism from civil society.

This decision definitely will plunge schools into an unprecedented management crisis and be advised in advance," the letter reads in part.

Knut argues that they had spoken with Kaimenyi last year, advising him that despite the release of the Kilemi Mwiria-led Task Force report, which recommended fees reductions, schools should prepare their annual budgets at 2013 levels pending implementation of the report.

Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said that schools complied with Kaimenyi's directive and engaged in budgeting before the end of 2014, and have since procured goods and services through various tenders on the basis of 2013 fees levels.

Mr Sossion argues that the new directive requires all schools to convene Board of Management (BoM) meetings to work out their budgets afresh and scale down drastically services to students, which is unworkable.

"It requires schools to revoke supplies which have legally been procured through tenders thus putting schools at serious risk of litigation," Sossion wrote in the letter.

Yesterday, Kaimenyi lamented the resistance to implementation of the new fees guidelines.

"Implementation of the document is being opposed on the grounds that we did not do wide consultation.

The Kilemi Task Force included all key education stakeholders," he told a public lecture on reforms in the education sector at Kenyatta University.

Sossion asked Kaimenyi to address the shortage of teachers and infrastructure before fees.

"We need a solution for the two before we think of reducing the fees," he said, noting that the issues had been raised in the task force's report.

The teachers union cautioned that rates recommended by the task force shall only apply once certain conditions, which unions say were identified as the cause of rising cost of education, are met.

The task force established that 37 per cent of the teachers are hired by BoMs and that secondary schools spend at least Sh2 million to hire staff.

Knut said that the Government should stick to the recommendations of the task force and that "TSC should employ adequate numbers of teachers in all public secondary schools and ensure immediate replacements for national teacher attrition and voluntary exit cases".

Sossion said schools must put up the required infrastructure.

"We hereby write to [you to] kindly refrain from succumbing to political pressure and civil society activism and rescind your intention to gazette the fees. Professional engagement with us will guide you and the Government properly," said Sossion.

Yesterday, Kaimenyi said there are weaknesses in the management of teachers' professional development and deployment.

He said there is inadequate integration of positive values and attitudes in the curriculum and general education delivery mechanism