The Mountain Journal
Public schools have hatched a scheme to charge illegal levies that have pushed hundreds of learners out of classrooms.
The illegal levies have thrown the constitutional promise of free and compulsory basic education out of the window as thousands lack the ability to pay.
A survey by Elimu Bora that covered 388 parents, guardians and grandparents across 11 counties and found illegal charges in every county, school cluster and school category.
The counties were Baringo, Kakamega, Kiambu, Kisumu, Makueni, Mandera, Meru, Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, and Uasin Gishu. The most troubling finding is that when families cannot pay, children are kept out of school.
“45.9 percent of the learners are occasionally or very often sent home or barred from class because of levies. For 17.5 percent, this happens very often. The burden is even heavier in day schools, where 64.9 per cent of learners are sent home or barred from class, compared with 40.5 per cent in boarding schools,” read a report.
Remedial tuition and motivation fees affect 49.2 per cent of households, with a median charge of Sh5,000. Development levies affect 32.2 per cent, also with a median charge of Sh5,000, while some families reported charges as high as Sh50,000 to Sh60,000. Development levies are also the charges most commonly enforced by sending learners home, with 83.3 per cent of affected households reporting such threats.