Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha on Tuesday, December 28, issued new directives to headteachers ahead of the reopening of schools next week in January 2022.
Speaking while inspecting school projects in Mombasa, Magoha warned school heads not to send students home because of unpaid fees.
He further warned them against adding extra levies to the school fees and forcing parents to pay.
"You must not send a child home for extra charges, that is criminal. If you want to levy children, then you must do so at your own cost and at your own risk," the CS stated.
Magoha asked headteachers to let learners report to school with whatever amount the parents are able to raise. He further recommended that the schools make arrangements on how the balance will be cleared.
"We have already told the teachers to take what the parent brings to school and agree on how the parent will continue," he remarked.
School heads who will be found contravening the directive will be dealt with by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The directive comes after a section of parents requested for the reopening date to be pushed forward citing inability to raise school fees owing to the biting effects of the covid-19 pandemic.
Magoha maintained that the academic calendar would go on as planned. He promised headteachers and principals that the government would remit its payments to the schools before they officially open.
The Education boss also shed light on the preparations for next year's national examinations.
He revealed that there would be five national examinations in 2022 including the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) which will be held in March.
"There will be three of them, the normal KCPE and KCSE then grade six exams. Those three will be done in December (2022)," he noted.
Magoha disclosed that all the five examinations will be ready by March, 2022.
