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Machogu said schools must desist from asking parents to construct new classrooms for the current Grade 8 candidates.
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He said the Government plans to spend Sh12.8 Billion to facilitate the construction of 15,015 classrooms for JSS over the next one year.
Image: PCS
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has warned Junior Secondary Schools against charging parents extra levies outside the government fee structure.
The CS on Friday said the ministry is already receiving reports of some learning institutions charging parents extra levies.
Basic education learning institutions opened for the First Term on Monday, January 8.
"Since the opening day, the Ministry of Education has received a number of reports that some Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) are charging levies on the pretext of expanding infrastructure to accommodate learners joining Grade 8 in 2024," Machogu said.
Machogu said other schools are demanding new school uniforms for the Grade 7 learners.
To ensure smooth learning at the JSS level, Machogu directed all 1,282,574 candidates who sat the 2023 Kenya Primary Schools Education Assessment(KPSEA) be allowed to join Grade 7 in the Junior Secondary Schools hosted by their respective primary schools where they attended Grade 1-6.
The CS said Grade 7 learners should utilise the classrooms that were used by the current Grade 8 learners in 2023.
" Grade 7 learners should be allowed to attend school in uniforms that they used while in Grade 6 in 2023 as parents and guardians make efforts to buy new outfits for the JSS," Machogu said.
Further, the ministry directed that Grade 8 learners utilise the classrooms left vacant by the last cohort of the Standard 8 candidates who sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Examination in 2023.
Machogu said schools must desist from asking parents to construct new classrooms for the current Grade 8 candidates.
"The Government plans to spend Sh12.8 billion to facilitate the construction of 15,015 classrooms for JSS over the next year," he said.
He told all school heads that the Sh7.6 Billion released last week for learners in Junior Secondary Schools has already been credited to school accounts.
"Schools are therefore not expected to charge any levies from parents," Machogu said.
The CS said field officers from the Ministry of Education should be vigilant in the regions to ensure all joining instructions to Junior Secondary schools and Form One are strictly complied with.