Explain fees policy
A circular from the Ministry of Education is raising fears that the subsidised secondary education may not be available to all public school students after all. The circular highlighted in some sections of the media yesterday indicated that qualifying students will have to be in schools with classes ranging between 40 and 45 students. The logic behind that requirement is yet to be explained. From our view, however, it contradicts recent attempts to take secondary education as close as possible to students, especially those in rural areas.
To be fair, the policy aims at resolving the perennial problem of poor teacher student ratio in secondary schools. Since the onset of Harambee Secondary schools, largely built through community initiatives, at the dawn of independence, institutions have emerged in remote areas where they hardly attract 10 pupils, but have still to be provided with teachers and teaching materials by the government because of their public nature.
This policy aims at ensuring optimal use of resources in funded schools but the goal of achieving redistribution of pupils across public institutions may end up making the education more expensive for both parents and students. Policy makers at the education ministry need to go back to the drawing board to ensure that the most deserving cases in secondary schools do not miss out.
Business Daily
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