By William Koome
School heads and principals demanding extra charges over the set fees risk being arrested over corruption and losing their jobs if found culpable by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) who have announced plans to probe the growing complaints.
EACC has already written to the Ministry of Education asking to be furnished with a list of school heads who are demanding illegal levies for action.
Some of the schools have been demanding extra charges under the guise of transport or pocket money which is mostly paid via non-official accounts.
County and regional directors of Education have already been tasked to investigate alleged cases and forward reports to the Ministry for action.
The Teachers Service Commission is also investigating hundreds of such cases before taking any disciplinary action.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan maintained that school heads and principals must adhere to the Ministry’s regulations.
Due to the reduced time in school, the Ministry reduced the national school fee by Sh8500 and extra county schools by Sh5500 with learners required to pay Sh45, 000 and Sh35, 000 respectively.
The State pays Sh22, 244 tuition fee for all students in both day and boarding schools.
