Head teachers faulted for sending candidates home to bring fees as MPs criticize CS Amina’s absence, ahead of exams
A section of parents have come out to strongly castigate the decision by some schools in Trans Nzoia to send form four students home to collect school fees balances with less than four weeks to the commencement of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, KCSE, examinations. Yesterday, a large number of students was spotted in various locations boarding vehicles home after being sent away from schools.
Speaking to the media, today, the angry parents said chasing the students home at this time could hamper the kids’ preparations for the final examinations. “It is sad to meet a form four student on the road, who has been sent to collect a fees balance of as little as Ksh. 1,000”, said one of the parents, today while speaking to the media. The parents are urging the head teachers not to send the students home at this critical time of the year and have called upon the Education Ministry Cabinet Secretary, Amina Mohammed, to step in and intervene. This happens even as the Ministry of Education announced, yesterday, that they had released tranche three of the free Secondary and primary education funds. Read more details here….The Government has finally released FSE and FPE funds for term 3 ,2018.
But, in a rejoinder today, most heads who spoke to our newsroom indicated that the Education Ministry was just playing Public relations as there are no monies in the accounts yet, as claimed by PS Kipsang. “I have gone to the bank to check and withdraw the FSE funds, today, but to my surprise the said funds have not reflected in the accounts yet. Creditors and other suppliers are on my neck wanting me to clear their debts”. Said a school head who requested for anonymity.
The Trans Nzoia parents who are yet to receive payment for the maize they supplied to the National Cereals and Produce Board, NCPB, said chasing students home from school will see them lose a lot in terms of syllabus coverage and revision. Some parents faulted the criteria being used by Constituency Development Boards, CDF, and Counties to award education bursaries as most monies benefitted kids from rich families; who are not needy after all.
The parents are now urging the schools’ heads to give them more time to pay the fees balances after getting payment from the NCPB. Yesterday, the Education PS, Dr. Belio Kipsang, said concrete plans had been put in place to ensure that all the candidates sit for the tests under conducive environments.
Elsewhere, the Parliamentary Committee on Education has protested against the decision by the Ministry of Education cabinet Secretary, Ambassador Amina Mohammed, for snubbing their summons. Led by Hon. Julius Melly, the Tinderet Member of Parliament who is also the chair to the committee, the MPs said they had summoned CS Amina to shed more light on the fate of the over 4,000 students affected by insecurity in various parts of the country. CS Amina, who was, also, required to give more details on the Ministry’s preparations for the forth coming National examinations, is said to be out of the country and has requested the MPs to reschedule the meeting to Thursday the 4th of October, 2018.
The infuriated MPs, at the same time, criticized the Chairman to the Kenya National Examination Council’s decision to list examination cheating hotpots, a move that has also been vehemently opposed by local members more so from the Kisii region, that was mentioned in the list. Read more details here…Local officials in Kisii protest against Magoha’s listing of Kisii as an exam cheating hot spot
speaking to the press at Parliament buildings, today, the MPs said it is discriminating for the KNEC chair, Prof. Magoha, to profile the mentioned areas saying such a move has caused unnecessary anxiety and panic among the students and parents; from the mentioned areas. The Legislators asked Prof. Magoha to immediately name the over thirty schools being investigated for alleged examinations malpractices.
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