The government is planning to convert national boarding schools also to admit day scholars, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said yesterday.
If the new plan is approved, schools like Starehe Boys’ Centre, Kenya High and Alliance High will start admitting both day scholars and boarders.
Matiang’i said day schools have over the years been neglected in government upgrading plans.
This programme will allow parents to send their children to national secondary schools, which are considered expensive because of the boarding fee.
The Education ministry is planning to have rolled out a new Institution Material Policy by December similar to that of Israel and Mozambique.
“We have to remove all limitations that bar our children from accessing national secondary schools,” he said, during the Kenya Secondary School Heads’ Association 42nd Annual Conference at Wild Waters in Mombasa.
Matiang’i said this might not be applicable throughout the country.
School heads will have to demonstrate the capability of handling this new system before they are allowed to admit both day scholars and boarders.
“We will not implement it as demanded, but will apply it on the capability of principals handling both day and boarding schooling,” he said.
Matiang’i said the plan is to allow the government to give fair attention to all secondary schools.
However, the CS did not give the timelines for this new system.
“Day schooling is critical as we move forward,” said the CS.
Matiang’i said the ministry will work with some national schools to try out the new system.
In addition, the policy will ensure only one coursebook per subject is used in all public learning institutions.
Matiang’i said this will reduce the cost of education.
In the current guidelines, schools have a pool of coursebooks on a single subject to choose from.
Some institutions use more than five textbooks to teach one unit. The current guidelines have been in existence for more than 13 years.
“When I visited a school in Makueni, I was shocked by the big number of coursebooks per subject the institution had,” he said.
Matiang’i said such books are scarce in public schools and not evenly distributed among learners. He said parents are forced to buy all the textbooks.
“We want to provide a framework where education will be made affordable to all,” he said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, in a speech read by the CS, said his government is ready to implement free education next year.