Secondary schools are on Monday expected to start admitting to Form 1 the more than 1.17 million students who sat the 2020 KCPE exams.
A spot check by the Star found that many schools have maintained the old fees despite a directive by the Education CS George Magoha to reduce the amount charged.
In Naivasha Girls, an extra-county school in Nakuru county, parents were required to pay Sh20,000 on the admission day.
In Loreto Girls, Limuru, parents were required to pay up to Sh35,000 when the learners report Monday.
At Alliance Girls, the school has yet to communicate any changes on the initial fees structure that were set at Sh53,000 per year.
Bishop Gatimu Secondary School in Nyeri county has yet to communicate to parents on plans to adjust the fee structure. The Star established that parents were required to pay Sh35,000 for first term fees.
Kenya Parents Association chair Nicholas Maiyo has called for the Teachers Service Commission to take action against schools that violate the fees guidelines.
In the directive, Magoha called for a reduction in national school fees by Sh8,000 and the reduction of county schools by Sh5,500.
In effect, this would see the fees in national schools decline from Sh53,000 to Sh45,000 while county schools will pay Sh35,000 compared with the Sh40,000 fees that have been paid in the past.
Magoha said the fee relief was to cushion parents from the Covid -19 effects and was also a result of the short nature of this year’s term.
The TSC had told principals to follow the guideline, asking them to review their school fees structures in line with the Education ministry directive.
However, it is not clear how long the schools have to comply with the directive.
Indimuli Kahi, the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman, said that schools could stick with the first term fees structure and review the amount to be paid in the second and third terms.
Form 1 students will take 28 days from reopening to their first mid-term break. The first term will consist of 10 weeks.
A spot-check by the Star on local retailers of stationery, books, and uniform centres found long queues in search of commodities for the admission process.
Parents interviewed by the Star put the cost of admitting a Form 1 student as one of the major factors that will determine if the child reports to school or not.
“Some parents cannot afford the demands of Form 1 admissions that are set by some schools thus some have sent their children to day schools where the admission requirements are relatively cheaper,” Maiyo told the Star on phone.
In most national and extra county schools, the institutions will be providing uniforms for the students, with costs ranging Sh20,000 up to Sh50,000.
Other costs include the purchase of personal effects like soap, tissue paper, toothpaste and brushes, shoes, which gp for as much as 10,000 depending on the preferences.
On the reporting day, parents will be required to pay the full amount of the first term fees.
Schools adopt a 50:30:20 ratio in the payment of fees.
