The government through Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok on Monday announced plans to include more schools in the plan to pay school fees through eCitizen.
In a statement, the PS revealed that after a successful implementation in national schools, all extra county and county schools will be required to pay fees through the consolidated government platform.
"To ensure a smooth rollout, the new payment system will be implemented in phases beginning with national schools and subsequently extending to extra county and county schools," read part of the statement.
Bitok explained that the move is meant to harmonise the collection of school fees and promote transparency and accountability.
Further, the PS explained through the eCitizen platform, the government will effectively monitor the system to check compliance with the relevant policies and regulations governing the levying and payment of fees in public secondary schools.
He revealed that the government had already set up a payment collection process which is convenient and transparent to ensure that principals can access funds promptly.
All listed schools will be required to submit their banking details to the Ministry of Education to facilitate payment via the platform.
Stakeholders including school heads and parents were urged to voice their concerns and reservations on the new payment plan to the Ministry.
"We are open to discussion to discussions and other inputs that will support the objectives of the directive," Bitok stated.
Bitok's statement comes after Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang ordered all national schools to pay school fees via the platform. This new development was met with criticism from Kenyans who noted that this may slow down operations in schools.
The migration to eCitizen is an initiative from President William who aims to harmonise payments across all State institutions. In June last year, Ruto directed all government institutions to ensure that all payments are channelled via one Paybill; 222222.
Since the government started implementing the directive, Kenyans have complained about the delays and inconveniencies caused by subscribing to the new way of doing things.
