Friends Malava Girls urges parents to register learners for SHA cover amid rising medical costs

Parents who have not registered with the Social Health Authority (SHA) and listed their children as dependents will be required to personally cover their children’s medical bills.

This is according to the school management of Friends Malava Girls, which issued the notice in response to the Ministry of Health Principal Secretary’s directive, released to all schools in the country through the Sub-County Directors of Education.

Addressing parents at the school’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), Principal Rose Abuko urged parents to ensure their learners were listed as beneficiaries of the new medical cover (SHA), which transitions from the initial National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), enabling them to receive the necessary medical attention when required.

The principal further informed parents who had not registered their learners for medical coverage that they would be responsible for paying hospital costs out of their own pockets, as the school had no funds to settle such bills. The school will only handle emergencies by taking the student to the hospital and informing the parents later to pay the bill.

“The ongoing SHA enrolment should be embraced by parents, who must enrol their children, as it will stand in for them when they fall ill at school. As a school, we are experiencing difficulties in handling sick learners who are not covered by any medical insurance, which forces us to cover the hospital bills and subsequently bill the parents. Parents who have not registered their children should be ready to be called and take their sick ones to the hospital, settling the bills themselves,” she said.

She emphasised that SHA is not a school policy but a government directive, and the teething problems experienced nationwide cannot be blamed on schools. “Make sure your child is covered,” she urged.

The Principal said that SHA has limited the treatment options for students, unlike NHIF, which, through Seco Care, allowed sick learners to be treated at any health facility across the country.

She also pointed out the need for parents to be more responsible in handling the girl child, noting that they play a vital role in their future.

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“I’m advising those single mothers and guardians raising these girls to be open and inform them of their fathers’ whereabouts. It enables them to relate and quench their curiosity, considering the father figure is critically important in the lives of these teenagers aged 15-18. Failure to do so will lead to academic detachment,” she added.

“It is important for fathers to be present in their daughters’ lives at this age. A father is precious to them, and they won’t concentrate in class until they find out who and where their father is.”

She cautioned those students who get pregnant that the school will retain them, but there will be no special treatment and diet for them as the school has a tabled menu that cannot be changed to favour them. She faulted those parents who were not applying for bursaries and were not paying fees on time.

“There are many bursaries from the county to the national government and even financial institutions, which those parents having difficulties paying fees should take advantage of. Let us not be too lazy to apply for these bursaries, as they will cushion you a bit on fee payment.”

She noted that the school’s fee arrears were huge, amounting to Ksh 3.6 million, hence the need for parents to apply for bursary grants.

By Wakhungu Andanje