The country’s parents’ body, the Kenya National Parents Association (NPA) has called on the school heads to give parents ample time in regard to payments and stick to the fee guidelines issued by the government through the Ministry of Education (MoE).
Speaking to Education News today ahead of the school reopening next week Monday January 6, the Association National Chairman David Silas Obuhatsa noted that parents have gone through difficult times with their children especially during the just concluded festive season considering the harsh economic conditions in the country.
“Parents should be given ample time to make the payments. Children have just come from Christmas, parents have gone through difficulties, the economy is very bad, so school heads should just understand. We don’t want to see children again on the road running up and down because of school fee. Parents should also be consulted on extra levies through school boards of management and PTAs,” said Obuhatsa.
He also maintained that the recent primary schools whose boarding section was closed must fulfill all the required conditions set by the MoE before reopening, adding that the safety of learners is paramount and should not by anyway be taken for granted, urging parents of the affected schools to go to the Sub-County Directors of Education offices so that the affected learners can be given transfers to other schools.
Education stakeholders
On the growing anxiety on the release of the KCSE exam, Obuhatsa called on the parents and other education stakeholders to be patient and give the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) its time in ensuring it complete its required logistics required in the release of the Examination, since they are the same people who will also blame KNEC for releasing results with errors.
At the same time, he called on the country’s traffic officers in close collaboration with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to be extra vigilant this time in ensuring that all vehicles including public service vehicles and private ones which will be transporting students to their respective schools, strictly adhere to the stipulated traffic rules and related transport laws.
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“Traffic Officers must be very vigilant this time. They should make sure that we don’t experience any accidents that might take the lives of our children and parents as they go back to school. We don’t want to see cases of overspeeding vehicles that will endanger the lives of our children,” said Obuhatsa.
He congratulated the government for moving with speed in ensuring that Grade 9 classes in public primary schools are ready with Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) also ensuring that the textbooks and curriculum designs for Grade 9 are ready a head of reopening next week.
By Roy Hezron
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