Head teachers want schools allowed to charge higher fees for projects, extra teachers

Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association wants schools with ongoing projects and shortage of teachers to be allowed to charge more than the stipulated government school fees.

This will ensure the projects are completed on time and students cover the syllabus as required, according to the association’s chairman Kahi Indimuli.

He said schools that heavily depend on board of management (BOM) teachers to address shortages, cannot manage their salaries if they stick to the government fee structure.

“With a lock on any extra levy [this] means all teachers employed under BOM will lose jobs and the affected schools will suffer a shortfall that will also affect the quality of learning,” Mr Indimuli said on Monday.

He explained that schools which used to employ bright Form Four leavers cannot do so because it is against the law to engage a teacher who is not registered by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

“Let us not concentrate on big schools and forget about county and sub-county schools where majority of the students are,” Mr Indimuli said.

Biting shortage

The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary-General Akelo Misori agreed that a biting shortage of teachers in schools makes additional levies mandatory in the worst-hit schools.

He revealed that some schools operate only with two TSC teachers and require about Sh 1.8 million to cater for additional BOM teachers, to handle the syllabus.

“The schools also must play in the same league with other categories of schools because they use the same curriculum and sit for similar examinations,” Mr Misori said.

He expressed disappointment that TSC has threatened to demote head teachers whose schools don’t perform yet it has done little to ensure the teacher to student ratio meets international standards.