Parents warn say operations in public schools can stop next week

Parents warn say operations in public schools can stop next week

Learning in public schools could be paralysed in the coming weeks due to failure by the government to release free education capitation.

While issuing the warning, the National Parents Association said that some schools were barely operating as the financial crunch deepened.

At stake are the sports activities, which are set to kick off in two weeks, with schools warning that scrapping off the events could lead to unrest among the students.

This came as heads of school read mischief in the directive by the Ministry of Education to provide fresh data on the number of students yet the information was already online.

NPA secretary general Eskimos Kobia said there were fears that school operations could be grounded in the coming days if the capitation funds were not released.

He said that in the first term, the government leased only 50 per cent of the funds while the public schools were yet to get a coin for the second term.

“The law stipulates that the schools get 50 per cent of the total funds in the first term, 30 percent in the second term and the rest in the third term but this has not happened,” he said.

Speaking in Naivasha on Friday, Kobia said that investigations by the association indicated that parents were now bearing the government’s responsibility.

“Some head teachers are sending students home to collect fee balances so that workers can be paid and other learning needs can be resolved,” he said.

He added that Junior Secondary Schools were the most affected as they were yet to get enough teachers and funding.

“Learning in some Junior Secondary Schools will be paralysed in the coming days due to lack of learning materials, teachers and funding,” said Kobia.

Kobia termed the fresh demand for student’s information as a delaying tactic as this was contained in National Education Management Information System (NEMIS).

Several heads of schools admitted that all was not well, adding that the government’s financial year was coming to an end in a couple of weeks.

They warned that failure to release the funds would lead to cancellation of the planned sports activities which would be a recipe for chaos.

“Sports have been used to manage the students and without funds this will mean cancellation and the government should be ready for consequences,” said a teacher who declined to be named.

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