Form One selection blows us a windfall

For the first time in decades, Meta Meta’s Form One classes have been filled to capacity, within first term. Schola, our trusted source of rumours claims Okonkwo has summoned the PTA to look into the possibility of putting up a makeshift class for pending Form One admission cases.

The influx of ‘Monos’ caught us flat-footed as we didn’t have enough desks and chairs. Okonkwo resorted to emergency options and avoided the time consuming tendering process. Vasco Da Gama whispers this may land us in trouble with PPOA.

The strike at the beginning of the year delayed Form One selection. And like opening of schools, Form One selection and admissions were also a rushed affair.

Parents who ordinarily have had a whole month to shuttle between schools and education offices looking for vacancies in their preferred schools found themselves without this luxury.

Many just took the admission letters available and dashed into the nearest school’s uniforms shops. A few did stage a fight though.

Waving placards, they marched on Jogoo House decrying the skyrocketing cost of education. Many schools are charging fees equivalent to the Valentine suite at Hotel Kempinski.

The parents demanded implementation of the Kilemi Mwiria task force recommendations.

Social frustrations

These would have made it easy for common hustlers and Mama Mbogas to take their kids to national schools which have become a preserve for the rich. Being true Kenyans, they had forgotten two things: in Kenya, task forces are a public relations exercise.

They are vital safety release valves for vent up social frustrations. As soon as the report is compiled and the members pocket hefty allowances, the report is safely stowed away in a vault in the bowels of the highly fortified central bank. The parents were also marching at the wrong place.

The senior education officers at Jogoo House are well paid and the amount of fees in question is small change to them.

PTA meetings that recommend increase in fees incidentally are also attended by education Ministry officials.

They are not only treated to sumptuous meals but rumours are also rife that many walk away with envelopes surreptitiously sneaked into their pockets by cunning school administrators.

Having filled Form One classrooms this early has lifted the spirits of Okonkwo. He is smiling more often as this translates to more cash from the Ministry of education.

Blessing to us

The parking lot has been a beehive of activities as new parents bring their kids. The Form One admission’s fiasco was also a blessing to us. Many graduates from academies who had scored marks that our friends at Alliance have been snapping up have joined Meta Meta.

Okonkwo also appears excited by the calibre of parents. Surveying the cars in the parking lot, I overheard him comment that the school this time had gotten the kind of parents to help catapult it to where it belongs. “I can see promising PTA officials here,” he said waving at the parked cars.

“Our bus buying project is definitely going to be realised,” he concluded. My fear is that many of the parents may have brought their kids to Meta Meta as a stop-gap measure in a bid to get them off the TVs and movies they were glued to at home.

If they pull them out by the end of the year, we will be forced to rejoin the league of schools that advertise ‘a few vacancies in Form One to three’ available throughout the year.