• The institutions have also chosen to retain and pay all their employees.
• Educationists argue there are much cheaper and excellent online options parents may wish to explore should they find the costs high.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
International schools have defended the high costs proposed for online learning programmes while schools are closed due to the coronavirus crisis.
Most are not significantly lower than the already-high normal fees for classroom teaching.
Some parents with learners at the high-end schools had protested the charges as prohibitive. The institutions offer between 10 and 50 per cent fee cuts on their regular fees.
But to fully address the issue, the Kenya Association of International Schools argues that the whole picture must be seen. The association prides itself on its members' ability to swiftly launch online programmes, notwithstanding the challenges caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Jane Mwangi, head of the association's secretariat, argues that above bridging the learning gap caused by school closure, the overhead cost of running the institutions remains the same.
“Enter the coronavirus phase, schools are closed yet required to deliver teaching and learning. International schools have risen to this challenge… but salaries, rent, loan commitments, electricity have remained the same,” Mwangi said in an email on Sunday.
Mwangi said the institutions have also chosen to retain all their employees, whether working or not, to cushion them against the Covid-19 crisis.
“Schools have all done the best they can and to ask more from them is, in essence, forcing them to shut down, and will cost some 400,000 Kenyans their jobs,” she said.
Letters seen by the Star to various institutions show most parents offended d by the proposed charges. Surveyed parents of Bana School called on the institution's leadership to reconsider the 10 per cent fee cut offered.
Instead, the parents want a reduction of 25 to 50 per cent.
“International schools are cognizant of the fact that many parents are going through financial distress. It is this awareness that has made them all look at whatever operational savings they can make and offer discounts based on their financial health… ranging from 15 to 50 per cent,” Mwangi said.
However, Brian Walker, a retired teacher from Hillcrest International School, argued that there are cheaper online options parents may wish to explore should they find the proposed costs high.
Walker also said online learning cannot replace classroom learning entirely.
“There are already online educational courses that have been established and running for years. These cover IGCSE at every level and are flawless, staffed by professional teachers in the UK and are about 20 per cent of the fees charged by International Schools in Kenya,” Walker told the Star on Monday.
Walker cited the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance that provides IGCSE and GCSE courses.
(Edited by F. Orieny)