Schools that re-opened on Tuesday will have to readjust their budgets to accommodate soaring food prices.
Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association chairman Kahi Indimuli said with the current high cost of food items such as sugar, maize and beans, schools will find it hard to feed students due to budget constraints.
“Schools had already made their budget and now with increase in prices of food items, it means that we will have to adjust them which will be a tough exercise since there is restrictions on what schools should charge parents,” said Mr Indimuli.
He also raised concerns over increase in minimum wage for workers, saying most of non-teaching staff in schools fall under that category.
“The 18 per cent increase announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta affects personal emolument budget in schools. We have to implement it and this will be a challenge various institutions will have to face,” he said.
Sugar, maize flour, beans and sukuma wiki have increased 21.6 per cent, 31.2 per cent, 21.3 per cent and 63.2 per cent respectively.
“The increase in food prices was partly contributed by prevailing drought conditions. The year-on-year food inflation stood at 20.98 per cent in April 2017,” said Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
