𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋𝐒, 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐘

Members of the National Assembly  Committee on Education have raised alarm over schools imposing  illegal levies on parents and demanded immediate action from the Ministry of Education to end the practice.

In a meeting chaired by Hon. Julius Melly, lawmakers questioned the Ministry’s failure to enforce fee guidelines, citing cases where parents were forced to pay as much as KSh27,000 in additional charges, including a performance improvement levy of  KSh3,000 per term.

“I have a case in point,” Hon. Mary Emaase said. “A needy child in my constituency, sponsored by Family Bank and supported by the community, was sent home for failing to pay KSh27,000 in extra charges. The principal said the money would be collected at the gate when schools reopen. Who gave this directive? This is affecting vulnerable parents.”

“We raised this last year, and the CS promised to issue a circular within two weeks. What action has been taken? Parents cannot continue to bear this exploitation,” Hon. Clive Gesiro pressed.

In response, Principal Secretary for Basic Education, Prof. Julius Bitok, said the Ministry had issued a gazette notice outlining approved school fees and promised  “immediate, decisive action. against the implicated school. “Kindly furnish us with the details. I will take firm action on that particular case,” said Prof. Bitok.

He noted that governance problems often stemmed from Boards of Management (BOMs) and revealed that 15,900 education managers had already been trained under the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) to strengthen accountability.

On the broader education budget, Prof. Bitok defended the Ministry’s priorities, saying the sector had received a record KSh700 billion allocation for the 2026/27 financial year  up from KSh127.9 billion in 2025/26 to KSh134.7 billion for the State Department for Basic Education.

“For the first time in many years, we released capitation funds before schools opened. The transition to junior and senior schools has been challenging, but despite the teething problems, we are succeeding,” said PS Bitok.

Lawmakers also raised concerns about transparency in the school feeding programme, asking for the criteria used to identify beneficiary schools. Ministry Officials told the Committee that selection was guided by a property index and other factors developed to improve targeting, replacing the previous administration’s list.

The PS also disclosed that the Ministry was developing a central database to coordinate all scholarships and bursaries to avoid duplication between the National Government Constituencies Development Fund, the Ministry, and private foundations.

Committee Chair Hon. Melly directed the Ministry to submit a report within 20 days confirming that all withheld examination certificates had been released in line with a presidential directive.

“The PS is the custodian of policy; principals are employees of the TSC. No school should hold certificates. We expect a full report,” said Hon. Melly.