Parents to pay more for books and uniforms

School uniform and textbook retailers have increased prices steeply setting up parents for a painful start to the year when schools open next week.

A survey of retail outlets in Nairobi showed that prices of key learning items have increased by double digits with traders citing the steady rise in the cost of living and of doing business in the city.

Prices of secondary school uniforms have increased with the highest margins of nearly 20 per cent.

Most city bookshops have increased textbook prices by up to 10 per cent across the board, a development that is expected to hit parents with children in private schools hardest.

The government buys books for public schools under the free primary and subsidised secondary school education programme.

It has not helped that most secondary schools – private and public – have increased their annual fees by large margins even as the government insists on compliance with fees guidelines it published a month ago.

The fee structure, which came out of the report of a presidential task force appointed to look into the high cost of education and propose
practical ways of reducing it, had capped the fees at Sh56,900 annually.

But head teachers have dismissed the figure as unrealistic citing the high cost of school equipment and food.

The Business Daily learned that the steep increase in fees is partly the result of the many levies that school administrators are asking parents to pay.

Most school are, for instance, charging Parents and Teachers Association levies at rates that are way above the Sh2,000 limit set by the government.

There is also evidence that school administrators have ignored Education secretary Jacob Kaimenyi’s December 18, circular directing them not to charge national examination fees, with parents being asked to pay as much as Sh5,600.

These added costs come at a time when inflation – the key parameter that uniform and textbook retailers use to justify price increments – has fallen steadily in the past three months. Inflation fell to 6.09 per cent in November, the lowest point in 16 months.

“The price increments cannot be said to be tied to the state of the economy since key indicators such as inflation have stayed relatively stable,” said Musau Ndunda, the secretary- general for the Kenya National Association of Parents.

“Parents are unjustifiably having to shoulder high prices and nobody seems to care.”

An attendant at Prince Uniforms, located along Nairobi’s River Road, said the cost of uniforms had increased by between Sh100 and Sh250. The employee, who declined to be named because his employer had not authorised him to speak to the media, however, downplayed the price increment saying it was not linked to the holiday festivities.

READ: Union and parents put Kaimenyi on the spot over school fees guide

Animet Limited, another uniform distributor at Nairobi’s Yaya Centre also revealed that prices of most school items are up, indicating that the price hikes were not unique to the city centre.

The employee, who spoke on phone, however termed the increments as “not substantial”, adding that they were the direct result of the higher cost of doing business, including the rising cost of raw materials.

“The cost of material has significantly increased this year and this is what we have transferred to the customers,” he said.

In one of the two major uniform shops located in Nairobi’s CBD, the price of a pair of shorts for a Standard Two child attending school in Buruburu estate is priced at Sh565, up from Sh430 a year ago. The pupil is also required to wear a shirt now priced at Sh415 – up 26.4 per cent from Sh340 in January.

The price of a school sweater is up 38 per cent to Sh1,035 while a pair of socks is now retailing at Sh255 up from Sh200 reflecting the extent of the adjustments.

The new prices mean that a parent buying three pairs of uniform for a pupil in this school must part with Sh7,080 up from Sh5,970 at the beginning of the year, or an 18.6 per cent price hike.

Since this amount is exclusive of the cost of shoes as well as of sports gear required for physical training, the entire back-to-school clothing bill is well over Sh10,000.

“The reason the costs of these items is rising rapidly is because traders simply want to make a killing, just like other businesses in this festive season,” said Mr Ndunda.

The parents’ lobby is also unhappy with Prof Kaimenyi’s decision not to issue a formal school fees structure instead of the blanket instructions he has been issuing lately and which are largely ignored by most schools.

“I would like to remind you that schools are not supposed to increase fees beyond that charged in 2013,” the Education CS said in the December 18 circular.

“I would like to reiterate that the government will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against any principal who contravenes the provision of this circular.”

Mr Ndunda insists that most schools have ignored the directive and have chosen to stick to their own fee schedules.

He gave the example of Bungoma High School where students are being asked to collectively pay Sh120,000 for the head teacher’s trip to the annual principal’s meeting in Mombasa.

Lang’ata High School is charging Sh17,900 as PTA levy, way above the Sh2,000 ceiling.

Parents will be surprised to note that the schools are asking for more money even as 50 textbook publishers, who feature in the government-regulated ‘Orange Book’ have held their prices at current rates.

It has, however, not helped that suppliers of supplementary textbooks have increased their prices by up to 10 per cent.

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The Orange Book is a list of more than 3,000 textbooks approved for use in public schools and whose prices are regulated annually. Independent publishers are not bound by the prices and have been the biggest drivers of the cost of school books.

Many schools require parents to buy books off the syllabus.

“The regulated publishers decided not to increase prices despite the cost of imported paper having increased by 25 per cent,” said Longhorn Publisher’s managing director Musyoki Muli.

The latest edition of the Orange Book, which is due to be released next month, was early this year the subject of hefty price increments.

The government allowed the publishers to increase prices by 14 per cent – the highest raise in recent years. The book prices, which have remained unchanged, also included a 16 per cent VAT levy introduced in September 2013.

The net effect of these adjustments was that the price of each textbook rose by between Sh30 and Sh120, meaning that even if book prices remain the same this year, they are still significantly higher than in recent past.

Each student in a public secondary school has an annual budget of Sh10,000 funded by the State, with about Sh3,000 earmarked for buying textbooks and other learning materials.

“Books that have been prequalified by government should ideally be used for several years before the need of replenishment arises, but parents are often forced to buy books every year,” said Mr Ndunda.