30 April 2008
Nairobi — More than 400 secondary schools in South Rift, Nyanza and Western provinces may fail to reopen for the second term next week.
This follows delays in the disbursement of Government funds.
The schools, which are set to reopen on Monday, have not yet received funds for the new term from the Education ministry.
The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association and Kenya National Union of Teachers warned Tuesday that a major crisis was looming if the funds are not disbursed immediately.
New accounts
Head teachers of affected schools are reported to have failed to comply with new regulations concerning the disbursement of funds under the Free Secondary Education Programme.
In some cases, head teachers did not comply with a requirement to open a new account for tuition and operation funds.
Knut executive secretary Kisumu branch, Mr Eliakim Sijenje, said that learning could be paralysed if the Government does not move swiftly to settle the matter.
He said the union had asked the affected schools to delay reopening because there was no way the head teachers could run the institutions without the funds.
"This is a serious matter that our ministry should not take lightly because it will interfere with the schools' programmes," said Mr Sijenje.
KSSHA national vice chairman Mr John Awiti, who is also the principal of St Mary's School Yala, said Day-schools were the most affected since they entirely depend on the Government funds.
"So far schools in this region have not received funds from the Government for the new term but we hope the matter will be settled soon enough to avoid any interruptions," said Mr Awiti.
In Western Province, many schools face the same fate due to failure by the ministry to remit funds.
The chairman of the Western Province branch of the KSSHA, Mr Simon Ambukwese, has challenged the Government to explain to parents their financial shortcomings to avert an imminent clash.
Mr Ambukwese disclosed that more than half the schools in the province were yet to receive the funds.
The Government pays Sh10,697 per student in public secondary schools while the parents are expected to foot any extra costs.
For a school to qualify for the funds, each class is required to have between 40 and 45 students.
The Western provincial director of education Mr Kenneth Misoi said some head teachers had sent the wrong information to the ministry headquarters when filling in the forms.
The Kakamega Central district education officer Mr Charles Lafte said head teachers from a number of secondary schools had incorrectly filled the forms and supplied wrong information to the ministry.
In Bomet, Kericho and Bureti, more than 74 secondary schools had been affected but school heads said they expected the problem to be resolved by next week.
In Bomet, the district education officer, Ms Pamela Akello, said 51 schools had been affected following a mix-up in the banking information they had given to the Education ministry but the anomaly had been rectified.
In Gucha district, the chairman of the KSSHA, Mr Jairus Onchoke, said more than 50 schools had been affected.
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