Magoha orders fees refund, private schools seek capitation

Private schools have pitched a radical proposal seeking a slice of the monies for free primary and secondary education, like their counterparts in public schools.

The proposal is part of the private institutions' quest for the government to extend an economic stimulus package to cushion members of Kenya Private School Association from the shutdown of schools due to Covid-19.

Should the government consider the proposal, private primary schools will get Sh1,420 for each learner while secondary schools will get Sh22,244 for each learner.

Peter Ndoro, KPSA chief executive, argues the capitation will help the institutions pay members' salaries. Private schools depend on fees to pay salaries.

"We are seeking government intervention through two fronts... First, we seek government to consider factoring capitation to our institutions and second is to have an elaborate digital learning programme that can generate income," Ndoro told the Star in a phone interview.

If approved, the institutions will join private universities that in 2016 secured a partnership with the government to admit government-sponsored students.

Private schools suspended salaries to their staff in April, one month after the shutdown of learning institutions.

Ndoro says private schools solely depend on fees to fund operations but that has been hard since the closure halted fee payment. Private schools still have to pay rent, utilities and other expenses.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha on Wednesday directed primary and secondary schools to refund second and third term fees to parents who had paid.

Magoha, who spoke in Voi, said the parents and the institutions can also come to an alternative agreement to carry forward the fees to cover the period when schools reopen in January.

On Tuesday the CS announced the the 2020 academic year will be considered lost and will have to be repeated due to the pandemic. All primary and secondary schools will reopen in January next year.

Parents will have to count losses for the fees paid in the first term that was cut short by the shutdown and declared null and void by Magoha.

On the directive to refund fees, Ndoro said, "We fully recognise any overpayment that was made by parents beyond the first term period... This will be carried forward to the next year."

Online learning

Ndoro also disclosed that private institutions are working to launch a robust and central online learning platform.

The cost of the online learning will continue to be dictated by individual institutions, he said.

However, few learners are taking up online learning.

"Only 42 per cent of our learners are participating in the various forms of online learning the institutions have set up. But it is important to note the purpose of learning is not to pass examinations but to develop the learners' cognitive, psycho-motor abilities and skills," Ndoro said.

(Edited by V. Graham)