Smooth learning in various schools in Embu county has been disrupted in the last few days with students being sent home to fetch monies needed to pay delayed teachers and workers’ salaries.
Sources in various schools indicate that teachers had become hugely demoralized and head teachers were struggling to convince them to continue teaching with promises that the salary arrears will be cleared.
Funds required include levies towards food for students in the institutions which operate parents’ financed school feeding programmes among other expenses covering workers payments for those employed by boards of management.
Despite firm government directives that students should never be sent home over levies, head teachers and principals are struggling to meet the various expenses especially in the wake of economic doldrums courtesy of rising prices of essential goods.
That notwithstanding, hundreds of teachers hired by school managements and parents’ bodies have also not been paid their salaries and allowances for the last three months.
Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) learners have also been affected and have been seen carrying their bags walking back home.
Some parents however have been returning the children to school with inadequate payments promising to make full payments later.
The parents of the affected children admit that it is partly their fault noting that most of the levies demanded by the school heads had been agreed upon by all parents hence the head teachers did not have any alternative than to ask the children to return home and fetch the levies.
“We have to bare and understand the head teachers’ predicament because they have to get money for teachers’ and workers’ salaries despite the present economic crisis,” said Mr. Peter Kamau, a parent whose child learning at Itabua Primary school returned home for money.
Parents indicate that the present economic crisis were so serious that they were torn between basics such as food in relation to books, pens and basic equipment meant for CBC subjects.
“The situation is serious and sometimes you wonder what to buy or not amid limited financial resources in circulation yet the prices of goods have skyrocketed,” said Mrs. John Kariuki of the Kiamuringa Primary school in Mbeere South.
By Robert Nyagah
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