Unions –Teachers’ unions in the country have accused Education Cabinet Secretary CS Ezekiel Machogu of making false promises to parents and school heads.
Kenya National Union of Teachers KNUT Deputy Secretary General Hesbon Otieno who was speaking on Citizen Radio, Thursday June 29 morning, said, soon, headteachers will pass the fee burden to parents since government is not releasing the required funds.
Mr. Otieno who was addressing this matter on the morning interview took issues with CS Machogu for not taking the financial issue serious as schools continue suffering.
As of now, he claimed, many parents believe in what the CS said recently; that money had been transferred to schools; a situation that has pitted parents against school heads.
“When the government is saying that they have disbursed funds to schools, the parents believe the government more than they believe the school principals.
“When the Education CS says that the government has disbursed the capitation, parents think the principals are lying yet they cannot buy necessities like books and food for the schools,” stated Mr Otieno.
He, therefore, seized the opportunity to caution the CS against inciting parents on things the government had not delivered to institutions.
Otieno further argued that Machogu had turned the whole matter into politics.
“This is just politics to show that the government is working. The principals will have no choice but to increase the fees,” DSG added.
If this situation persists, the Deputy Sec Gen noted that principals will be left with no other alternative but to ask parents to start paying the whole fees.
“For the school to run efficiently, there is no other way to get these funds. The only other option is to go back to the parents and tell them the truth. The principals have to go and find that money from the parents,” he added.
Mr. Otieno advised the cabinet secretary to help school principals run institutions smoothly instead of making their work hard.
This, he noted, could also have ripple effect on the overall education standards in many schools around the country.
