Parents Complain Over Unilateral School Fees Hikes

Parents and guardians should ignore unauthorised school fees for the 2024 First Term, a senior government official has said.

Reports indicate that some schools have already communicated new tuition fees to parents and guardians that have not yet been approved by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.

Speaking to The Sunday News, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Permanent Secretary, Moses Mhike, warned school heads who unilaterally increased school fees that they will face disciplinary action. Said Mhike:

Our position is very clear, it’s a total no. There should be a parents’ assembly where they vote on the matter and that information is submitted to the Ministry through our structures, that fee must be approved by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry and once that approval is done it will be communicated to the parents.

We have been getting so many complaints from the parents and we have investigated a majority of these issues.

Soon we will be issuing a Press statement where we will be saying, no to school authorities that continue to charge school fees without the approval of the Ministry.

The punitive measures are very clear as per our Acts, when it comes to public schools, it is misconduct. We will take action against all heads who allow this to happen.

It is also a chargeable offence that can result in imprisonment and as a Ministry, we don’t want to go there because the statutes are very clear and easy to follow.

However, in the past, schools have disregarded Government directives and unilaterally increased school fees.

Schools also force parents to buy school uniforms exclusively from the school. The schools inflate the prices of the uniforms.