The Privatization Commission on Tuesday, January 31, dispelled reports indicating that the state had lined up 29 national schools for privatization.
The Commission was responding to a statement bearing its letterhead and other corporate identity features listing over 28 national schools purported to have been lined up for privatization.
Schools listed on the post included academic giants such as Alliance High School, Starehe Boys Centre, Friend's School Kamusinga, and Kagumo High School. However, the commission and the Ministry of Education were quick to disown the list and labelled it fake.
Education analysts also discredited the reports terming them as groundless and fake. According to Amos Kaburu, an education consultant, the process would only be initiated through parliament as provided for in the law.
His position was corroborated by Jonathan Weseya, another educationist, who also dispelled the reports.
In addition, Kaburu warned that the education sector should be accorded treatment befitting its sensitivity. According to him, such a move would defeat the purpose of privatization, arguing that high schools were neither profit-oriented nor revenue-generating institutions.
"It would defeat the very purpose of privatization because high schools are not profit-oriented organizations. "There is no reason why anyone should propose privatization of public schools," he told Kenyans.co.ke.
In addition, the analyst noted that most of the public schools were sponsored by either religious groups or an alliance of individuals, some of whom were still the rightful owners of the premises on which these schools sit- which according to him was an obstacle for any law proposing privatization.
The developments came days after Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria announced that the State was mulling the privatization of some institutions in the education sector.
According to the CS, privatization would help to improve the quality of education in Kenyan schools whilst solving the problem of financial constraints facing government institutions.
To actualize the privatization plan, Treasury CS Prof Njuguna Ndungu made public a proposed bill that would be used to fast-track the process of privatization processes.
The move, as per the government, will target struggling government corporations and institutions of higher education.
