- School opening dates have failed to reflect the income timelines of tea farmers, dairy farmers and salaried workers.
- The writer argues that families have faced financial strain when school fees and other requirements fall due before salaries or farm payments are received.
- The Ministry of Education has been urged to align the academic calendar with family income schedules without reducing learning time
The Ministry of Education should consider reviewing school opening dates to better reflect the financial realities of ordinary Kenyan families, particularly those whose income does not come at the beginning of the month.
For many parents, the challenge is not unwillingness to pay school expenses—it is timing.
Tea farmers, for example, often depend on payments from their tea earnings, which may come later in the month. Dairy farmers similarly rely on milk payments that are made according to their cooperative or processor’s payment schedules. These families may have money coming in, but not necessarily at the exact time schools demand fees and other requirements.
The same situation affects thousands of workers employed by multinational companies and other large organisations. Some receive their salaries after the end of the month, meaning that when schools reopen toward the end of one month, parents may be expected to meet substantial education costs before their salaries have been credited.
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School reopening can come with a long list of expenses: fees, uniforms, books, stationery, transport, meals and other personal requirements. For a family with several children, these costs can quickly become overwhelming.
The Ministry of Education should therefore consider whether the academic calendar can be adjusted, where possible, so that schools open near the beginning of the month, giving parents a reasonable opportunity to access their income and prepare their children adequately.
This is not about reducing learning time or interfering with the academic calendar. It is about synchronising school reopening with the economic realities of the families that finance education.
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Tea farmers, dairy farmers, employees of multinational companies and millions of other workers deserve a school calendar that recognises how they actually earn their livelihoods.
A parent should not be forced to borrow money at high interest simply because the school calendar falls before their expected income.
The Ministry should listen to parents and consider a more family-friendly approach to school opening dates. Education works best when parents are financially prepared, and children return to school with dignity and the essentials they need to learn.
By Javan Mukwana.
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