Airtime levy proposed for free secondary education

Mobile phone users may pay more to fund free secondary education with a new levy that will be imposed on airtime if recommendations of a task force are adopted.

The Task Force on Secondary School Fees is recommending education levies on fast-moving consumer goods like airtime and fuel to raise the billions of shillings Kenya will need for  free secondary education.

Kenya aims to introduce free secondary education in 2017 to boost transition rates from primary school, which has not been charging fees since 2003.

Currently, Kenya spends Sh28 billion for the subsidised secondary education where the State provides a grant of Sh10,265 per student and analysts expect the budget for free-post primary schooling to be near Sh100 billion.

The task force led by former assistant minister Kilemi Mwiria is proposing a school levy on high revenue generating businesses like telecoms and oil dealership.

“We recommend that levies on airtime, fares and fuel be introduced as part of raising funds to enable the free secondary school education,” reads the report, adding that the State should also consider education bonds and access to unclaimed assets for alternative funding.

The oil business generates revenues in excess of Sh400 billion while that of mobile phone operators is nearly Sh200 billion.

Kenya has already established a railway levy of 1.5 per cent of all imported commodities to develop the new line from, Mombasa to Nairobi. The fuel levy is expected to raise nearly Sh25 billion in the current financial year.

The road levy on fuels has also been used for infrastructure projects since 1993.

Free primary school education has seen the number of students enrolling in secondary schools rise from 1.3 million in 2009 and 2.1 million students this year, raising the transition rate from 64 per cent to 77 per cent over the period.

But the government will use the free-secondary education to up the transition and offer equity as rising post-primary fees deny the poor quality education.

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A number of bright students who secured Form One admission to national schools this year opted to join low-ranked county and district schools because their parents cannot raise annual fees running to as much as Sh130,000.

The Kenya National Association of Parents said the national schools had increased fees by about 100 per cent in the recent past in breach of Education ministry regulations, prompting the formation of the task force.

Education secretary Jacob Kaimenyi appointed the task force to review the fees levied in public secondary schools to ensure they are affordable.

The task force has proposed huge cuts in schools fees for public secondary schools by more than a half, in a move that will come as a reprieve to most parents who are grappling with high cost of living.

If adopted, national schools will now charge parents Sh41,574 after the government capitation of Sh10,265 per student, when the new guidelines become effective.

Under the existing fees structure, some national schools charge as high as Sh120,000 per student.

The proposed fees structure, further recommends that students attending day schools should pay Sh13,265 after the government capitation of Sh10,265.