Parents will not be forced to pay for the Kenya Certificate Secondary Examination(KCSE) examination fees because the government has failed to remit the money.
Nyamira County Woman Representative Jerusha Momanyi, who spoke at Endiba village, assured parents that the government will have to fund the examination by sourcing money from various sources to make it successful.
“We agreed in the Assembly that no candidate will miss sitting for their examination because the government will take care of them,” she said
The Woman MP said that the money is essential because it will be used to pay the Invigilators, markers, and security men who will conduct the examinations.
Her message followed the sentiments of the CS Treasury John Mbadi, who said that no parent must pay their children’s examination fees.
Speaking to the public on one of the local radio stations, Mbadi said that although the treasury never allocated funds for this year’s form four examinations, all students who enrolled to sit the examinations.
Mbadi said that the treasury declined to allocate KSh 11 billion to facilitate the printing, circulating, and monitoring of examinations because the cost was too high.
READ ALSO:
“We temporarily halted the remittance of the money to allow the government to assess many problems surrounding using the funds.
“The government has not removed the funds, but we are assessing the situation and will provide a roadmap that will ensure prudent use of the money when it has been provided,” he said.
He said the government is making adjustments, including the possibility of printing the examinations within the country instead of abroad, to minimise the expenditure.
He said that his office, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, will devise a new structure for administering the funds used to conduct the examinations, adding that the new structure will focus on reducing the wastage incurred.
The CS was responding to the concerns raised by the Members of the Education Committee in parliament, who criticized him for planning to cripple the education sector by non-remitting funds to important departments like exam administration.
The members said that stopping the donation of money to run the examination was a serious step tantamount to sabotaging the whole ministry.
While appearing before the parliamentary education committee, the Principal Secretary for Education, Julius Bitok, admitted there were many funding gaps in the education sector but promised that his office would work with the National Examination Council to alleviate the anomaly.
By Enock Okong’o
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
>>> Click here to read more informed opinions on the country’s education landscape
>>> Click here to stay ahead with the latest national new
