Parents will be expected to fork up more school fees in the next one academic year than they did in past years despite negative effects of Covid-19 pandemic on the economy.
This is after the Ministry of Education headed by CS George Magoha squeezed eight school terms into two years in an attempt to recover lost time during the 2020 pandemic.
As schools close their 2020 third term this week, the parents have a window of just nine days to come up with school fees for the next school term.
The students will be expected to resume school on July 26 for the start of an academic year that would have began in January 2021.
Parents noted that they are already feeling the pain of having four terms squeezed into one year despite dwindling income sources as the economy recovers slowly.
"We are feeling the pinch of the crash programme. We paid fees for the third term only two months ago and many parents have lost their livelihood to the pandemic," stated a parent according to Daily Nation.
In an attempt to ease the burden faced by parents, Education CS George Magoha reduced school fees owing to shrunk term periods mostly in boarding schools.
The CS slashed secondary school fees noting that the Covid-19 pandemic had severely affected livelihoods.
Learners in national and extra-county schools in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Thika and Nyeri were to pay Ksh45,000 per year from Ksh55,000 annually.
Those in county and sub-county schools in the rest of the country were expected to pay Ksh35,000.
Students in special needs schools will pay ksh10,680 annually, Ksh21,920 less than the Ksh32,600 they have been remitting yearly.
Headteachers across the country, however, went up in arms with the move to reduce school fees arguing that they owed millions to their suppliers and it would be hard for them to meet the costs.
Parents, on the other hand, did not feel any significant reprieve after the reduction noting that the window period in which they are expected to come up with the school fees was too short.
Private school parents will, however, foot the full fees since the boards of the institutions will be the determinants of the amount charged.
