Parents Urge Magoha To Extend School Term Or Fee Waiver
Parents from all parts of the country have called Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha to either consider extending school term or waiver school fees.
Millions of learners returned to school yesterday with parents citing high cost of living amidst harsh economic times.
Parents are now calling upon the school management to reduce school fees if it will not be possible for the education CS to extend the second term after lose of two weeks during election period.
According to the 2022 academic calendar schools were to break for half term for 3 days. However, the learners closed four days earlier leading to the lose of two weeks in a ten-week term.
CS Magoha as since ruled out possibilities of extending school term. CS further said that national examinations will be administered in November as per the schedule.
Professor Magoha insists that learners would catch up with learning despite the short duration remaining to the end of second term.
While speaking in Kiambu yesterday CS highlighted, quite a number of teachers had completed the cyllabus and are on with revision.
He further reiterated that we are in a difficult transition period and therefore the ministry expects no interference with the term dates and the academic calendar.
CS Magoha also said that should there be need to Closure schools again incase of presidential election rerun, the consultation will be made before such a decision is reached.
In Homa Bay County, the chairman of Homa Bay County education network Mr. Julius Omuga has supported the parents’
proposal of either extending term dates or waiver to schools fees citing that the parents are struggling due to high cost of living.
According to Omuga, the learners had stayed home for 16 days during the election period. As a result the government should give a Ksh 2500 waiver for extra county and county schools.
In case of national schools, learners should pay 3200 less in this term.
This term is expected to end by 16th September 2022 when schools will close for a week refore kick off of third term of the 2022 academic year.
If this year’s academic calendar will run uninterrupted, it will mark the end of the two-year crash program since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
The regular school calendar is expected to start next year January.
