Embu parents say high school fees to increase drop-out rates

Parents in Embu County have called on the government to reign in on schools charging exorbitant fees in a bid to save them from being exploited.

Most parents say that the government should be strict in dealing with fee structures for schools adding that there should be monitoring in all schools to ensure no school is taking advantage of the confusion over the fees issue.

The parents called on the Ministry for Education to ensure that the fees guidelines issued are adhered to, something they say will reduce the high cases of school dropouts.

They expressed disappointment in the high school fees being charged by most schools in the county saying it is unacceptable and inappropriate.

Wilson Nthia, a parent of three students in different schools, argued that there are a lot of unnecessary expenses being included in the fee structures leading to the high charges by schools.

Nthia says that the government should intervene to save them from exorbitant teachers by directing scrapping of some of the unnecessary expenses.

Paul Kinyua, another parent, blames school Boards of Management for the fee increments adding that they are behind the passing and formulation of fees structures and urged them to be considerate enough.

Kinyua says the boards come up with development plans for schools and end up adding the development monies to the fees, something he says is doing more harm than good to the parents.

Mary Mwaniki, a business woman in Embu, says she does not know where to raise high fees required for this term by her three children who are in both primary and secondary schools from.

Alex Munene decried that if this crisis continues, some of the children will have to drop out of schools since their parents cannot raise the high fees being charged.

By Peter Gachanja