Several students who were unable to raise the entire school fees for the second term were sent home on Wednesday, October 14.
A private school located along Jogoo road, Nairobi, was highlighted after barring pupils from accessing the classrooms.
Another parent from a school in Nakuru expressed his shock when he discovered that his child's school had been turned into a mattress factory during the pandemic. His son's personal effects were held by the school until he cleared a fee balance from the disrupted first term.
On the same day, Education CS George Magoha directed that parents should pay up what they can to facilitate the education of their children.
"Parents are taking advantage, please take the little money that you have to school, if you go with nothing, you will have to be interrogated, if you can pay, then you must pay," he stated.
This was a stark contrast to the statement made on September 22 by the CS in which he assured parents that no student would be sent home over lack of fees.
“For boarding schools, the tuition part is also free, the only fee that the parents pay is what the children consume in the house. And my teachers are not animals, they are ready to listen to those parents and we should treat every case as it comes,” he stated.
However, he also pointed out that he could only plead that private schools accommodate such students during this period.
"If you have no fees, come back to public school, we will take your child because the government has directed that we should have 100% transition,” he advised.
An estimated 1.6 million Grade Four pupils, 1.2 million Standard Eight and 700,000 Form Four candidates resumed in-person classes on October 12.
This came amid parents’ worries over their safety as many pointed out the struggle to raise fees and buy learning materials.
In one of the directives regarding recorded cases of the coronavirus in any school, the student(s) who may exhibit any symptoms related to Covid-19 would be isolated and managed within schools as they await evacuation.
To make sure all learners resume studies, the government mobilised chiefs and their assistants to ensure total compliance with the schedule.
However, despite the nationwide school reopening, the fate of thousands of students still hangs in the balance.
In Baringo County, at least 4,000 learners from 15 schools are uncertain of their future after their classrooms were submerged when Lake Baringo and Bogoria broke their banks.
On October 11, the 10-member special task force created by Education CS George Magoha issued their recommendation on the rest of the students, and when they should resume in-school classes.
