Teachers issue ultimatum over free education fund

By Bryan Tumwa

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers has given the government until Friday this week to release money for free primary and subsidised secondary school education failure to which it shall ask school heads to send students back home.

Schools began their third term on Monday yet the government has not released funds for public schools to offer free education.

Omboko Milemba, the chairman of Kuppet issued the warning Monday saying it would be the only way to avert a crisis in schools owing to debts carried forward from second term.

"In second term, the government released Sh900 per child instead of Sh3, 2000 per child which meant that schools were running at a deficit of Sh2, 300 per child. As we begin third term, there’s no money to run the schools," said Milemba.

He said school heads were forced to borrow money from Shylocks and other suppliers which they are yet to pay back.

"The biggest setback is that subordinate staff are threatening to down their tools since they have not received any pay for the last three months. This raises safety concerns ahead of the new school term, especially in boarding schools," he said.

He added that the government had taken up the responsibility of being a surrogate parent to all children in public schools and therefore should not abandon the role by failing to dispatch school fees for them.

Mr. Milemba noted that it was unfortunate that school heads were forced to play cat and mouse with subordinate staff and other creditors.

"On Friday, if the money is not in we shall ask school heads to send students home. Children have already lost a lot of time because of the elections and the strike in second term. The government should therefore treat this matter as a matter of priority. Students can’t be in school without money," said Milemba.