Storm over teacher motivation fees in schools

By Hezron Roy

Education stakeholders in Kenya have expressed different positions regarding the issue of some public primary and secondary schools charging motivation fees, also referred to as remedial teaching in some institutions, with a number of parents asking the Ministry of Education to give them a direct contact to report schools that charge such fees.

The parents’ demands come after Principal Secretary, State Department for Early Learning and Basic Education Dr. Julius Jwan warned that the government would take action against government schools sending learners home over teacher motivation fees.

Speaking during the commissioning of the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) headquarters at the new Mthihani House South C in Nairobi on July 22, 2022, Dr. Jwan noted that the government will hold field officers responsible because such charges are taken right in their presence.

“It is unacceptable that we keep getting a lot of complaints every time. They should give us comprehensive reports to engage TSC to handle the cases,” said the PS.

Kenya National Parents Association (KNPA) Chairperson Nicholas Maiyo told Education News recently that the fee is not legal and should not mandatory since any payment of fees should be guided by guidelines from the Ministry of Education.

Maiyo stated that what the School Heads are doing is illegal and is punishable by law and if the parents know the schools and have evidence, for instance, the school’s stamped fee structure which indicates the motivation or remedial fees which are extra levies, then they should bring them forward to the Association so that they can petition the Ministry of Education for action to be taken by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

“It is not that Principals don’t know that charging the extra levies is illegal, it’s just a business to them. Every time they send children home not because of the required legal fees but because of these extra levies,” said Maiyo.

Prof. Henry Onderi, the Chairperson of Kisii County Education Board, stated that there has never been a situation where the government has allowed any extra levy in any part of this country since the schools have the fees determined by the government, and that the government has a policy of Free Primary Education and Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE).

He added further that if there is any extra levy on parents, then that is not within the law.

“Anything that is charged beyond what the government has allowed is an illegality. There has never been a Ministry’s Circular that says there should be motivation money for teachers that parents should pay,” says Prof. Onderi.

He states that there could be understanding between the parents and the school provided that such kinds of agreements have the blessings from the County Education Board which forwards it to the Ministry of Education for ratification.

He further adds that no government department can interfere with the agreement.

Prof. Onderi adds further that some parents have the tendency of agreeing with other stakeholders on the amount of motivation fees to be paid and thereafter start claiming that they aren’t party to such decisions.

He blamed the parents who report such cases to the Cabinet Secretary of Education instead of their respective County Education Boards and urged the parents to follow the due process of reporting such cases.

On the other hand, Kenya Primary School Heads Association (KEPSHA) National Chairperson Johnson Nzioka, who also doubles up as the head teacher at Donholm Primary School in Nairobi, states that there is no tuition fee since the ministry banned tuition in all the schools in the country, and if in any case it was changed to motivation or remedial fees, then the parents are the one who did it.

“We have no tuition in schools since the Ministry released a circular that stated that tuition was banned.  If it was baptized to remedial or motivation, whoever baptized it is the parents,” said Nzioka.

He added: “If the parents had talked about motivating their teachers that is not tuition.

It is the parents’ desire to motivate their teachers to stay for longer hours in school. The amount charged varies from one group of parents to another,”

Nzioka states that if parents meet and agree to have a certain programme in school, then there is no problem and it has nothing to do with the school administration or the Ministry since the Ministry has its stand on the same which the association supports.

He advised school heads to accommodate all parents, regardless of whether or not they can pay the agreed amount and that the heads should assess such cases on merit and ensure that no child is excluded because of the financial status of the parent.

“ We’re advising head teachers to ensure that all children are included in any learning, whether it is before hours or after hours and that if there is any arrangement for motivating the teachers,  the head teachers should ensure that the parents who are not able to pay are accommodated because they are able to tell,” added Nzioka.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Narok Executive Secretary Charles Ng’eno stated that motivation fee is something that the government has outlawed but parents have a way of sneaking it into school programmes hence leaving teachers to take the blame.

According to Nge’no,   parents always arrive at the decision of motivating the teachers to support them for the extra time they create to help weak students.

Nge’no adds that motivation fee is not something that teachers are demanding and even in some schools parents have set up a committee specifically dedicated to run the programme.

“As teachers, we don’t have any problem with that motivation fee as long as it is not used for abuse. You know some people will want to use it as a way of middling money,” said Ng’eno.

He adds that motivation fee shouldn’t be looked at from the angle of it being mandatory but something agreed upon by parents, and if there are people who are using it as a way of middling money, then it is absolutely wrong.

“If it is a resolution made during parents meeting, then it is binding. The principals are not making it mandatory, they are just implementing a resolution of the parents meeting,” he added.