As the country gears up towards the general elections, political aspirants have come up with several pledges for the future.
The promises are accompanied by economic models and visualisation of a bright future.
The education sector receives a lot of attention because it affects a lot of Kenyans.
This accords aspirants a chance to touch the hearts of parents and children during the campaigns.
Some of the pledges create excitement for children but are later unfulfilled.
Parents, on the other end, are left with dreams of what could have been.
With many of the promises requiring more funds, one wonders how their implementation will affect taxes.
A number of the promises require amendments in Parliament, policy reviews and legal changes.
RAILA ODINGA
The ODM leader proposed that the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) expand the limit to reflect the cost of living in Kenya as it evolves.
He called for the removal of interest rates accrued and CRB listing of the graduates who are not employed immediately after they finish school.
This pledge was also part of the proposals submitted in the Building Bridges Initiative document.
Raila recently promised free education from primary to university level should he be elected President in 2022.
He said what the youth need is education to secure their future.
“In my government, all children will go to school so they can get better jobs and better pay, not pushing wheelbarrows,” he said.
Javas Bigambo, a governance expert, said aspirants are fond of making pledges without explaining how they will be achieved.
“Those policy implications will come with legal changes that will have to be implemented at the national level, and the cost factor,” Bigambo told the Star during a phone interview.
On matters of economy and cost of living, he said increasing the Helb limit would cost more than what is being spent currently.
During the financial year 2020-21, the gross Helb budget estimate was Sh16.86 billion.
Of these funds, Sh11.3 billion was government capitation, while Sh5.5 billion was raised in the form of Appropriation in Aid (AIA).
For instance, Bigambo said, for increased Helb funding, the government will have to dig deep into citizens’ pockets.
“In the end, while the administration is what is making those proposals, it is the people who will pay,” Bigambo said.
MPs rejected the Higher Education Loans Board Amendment Bill, 2020, which sought to lower interest rates from four per cent to three per cent.
According to a report by the National Assembly's Education Committee, more students are likely to miss out on funding since the recovered money contributes to the annual student financing.
Loan recovery reached Sh4.5 billion in 2019-20, which was used to fund 121,622 students at an average of Sh37,000 per year.
MUSALIA MUDAVADI
The Amani National Congress leader promised to clean the sector if elected.
He cited the fiasco that was witnessed during Form 1 admission this year.
He inquired why the system failed and promised to address it as a matter of immediate concern.
He also faulted school heads for entertaining corrupt schemes by schools that defraud parents by forcing them to buy items from pre-selected suppliers at twice the market price.
“Other illegal schemes include payments for a plethora of items outside the formal system of remitting money to schools. Government guidelines on tuition fees have also been ignored,” Mudavadi said in a previous interview.
Parents have raised concerns of being extorted by school management during Form 1 admission.
National Parents Association chairman Nicholas Maiyo told the Star some schools direct guardians to buy items at specific shops, where prices are too high.
They said some of the selected shops are selling items at double prices compared to similar outlets within the same area.
Elimu Yetu Coalition national coordinator Joseph Wasikhongo told the Star Mudavadi’s plan to deal with defiant school heads is achievable.
However, it calls for more than just dealing with the management, he said.
“This is realistic but what needs to be done is the commitment from specific offices of education to hold the school principals to account,” Wasikhongo said.
On matters of school levies, Wasikhongo said school principals are proving to be defiant.
He faulted the school bosses for failing to adhere to the Ministry of Education’s regulations.
“Principals are really getting out of hand. They are taking advantage of parents and doing anything,” he said.
When Education CS George Magoha came to office in 2019, he promised to deal with rogue school heads overcharging fees.
However, secondary schools have resisted the CS's control as the institutions keep charging endless levies to parents.
Magoha's efforts to keep them in check have been in vain, frustrating his efforts to prevent illegal fee increments in secondary schools.
WILLIAM RUTO
Deputy President William Ruto is considering three proposals from his economic adviser David Ndii, which would form part of his bottom-up economic revival and 2022 manifesto.
Ndii on May 8 shared details of his Maasai Mara retreat with Ruto and Mt Kenya politicians. He said he proposed three issues to be added to the blueprint.
The issues were free healthcare, deregulation of the economy to spur growth, and free lunch to school children.
He, however, did not expound on how Ruto would accomplish the tasks and the budget that would be set aside to cover the freebies.
Questions were raised on how Ruto will offer free lunch to schoolchildren.
This is because the Jubilee government failed to provide free laptops to students as promised.
Uhuru’s allies revealed that the laptop agenda was Ruto’s brainchild.
However, USIU don Macharia Munene backed this pledge made by the Deputy President.
He said despite a rise in the cost of its implementation, it is achievable.
“That sounds good. It’s similar to the Nyayo milk, so if he can deliver free food for children in school, then it’s likely to carry some weight,” he said.
He urged the DP to consider economic hitches that might affect this initiative.
“If Moi delivered on the milk, then he [Ruto] might be able to deliver on the food,” Munene said.
We expect these things. All of them are going to make promises which they know they will not keep but they sound good in the ears of the voters
MOSES WETANGULA
The most recent agenda by One Kenya Alliance co-principal Moses Wetangula is the promise to ensure there is free university education.
Wetangula told Thika residents the alliance is determined to take the free education policy from the primary level, where former President Mwai Kibaki left it at, all the way to university level.
The announcement was a step higher from the free secondary education OKA had previously offered in efforts to woo voters.
Lecturer Munene said the financial crisis in public universities is going to get worse.
With Wetangula’s promise of free university education, the don said this could lead the institutions into a mess.
“We have increased the number of universities without increasing resources to run them, so all their promises add up to a mess in the universities,” he said.
He added the current free primary and secondary education is not doing well.
“We expect these things. All of them are going to make promises which they know they will not keep but they sound good in the ears of the voters,” he added.
Munene attributed the varsities' crisis to mismanagement and reduced funding from the state.
“The wrong people have been appointed to positions of responsibility, not because of their ability but because of their connections,” he said.
He said the cash crunch in universities is a ticking time bomb.
“When that happens when we have a problem then we have universities being run by people who should be in the classrooms being taught?” he added.
Edited by T Jalio
