Private school parents lock horns with school owners

O

Okiya

Elder Lister
Parents are locked in a battle with private school owners and managers over fees following the unprecedented closure of learning institutions worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic.


Some institutions are accused of taking advantage of Covid-19 to charge extra fees for online classes that they are offering to mitigate the nationwide closure of schools that face a serious cash crunch as fees is their main revenue stream.


The situation has been worsened by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha’s extension of the closure by a month. Schools were to open for second term next week.


Many of them have now turned to online classes for which parents have been tasked to pay.

At Riara Road Primary and Riara Springs Primary, parents have been asked to pay between Sh13,500 and 17,500 per month for pupils in Grade One to Standard Eight.


A parent who did not want to be identified termed the fees as unfair and insensitive.

“We had already paid full fees for first term. We cannot now be required to pay more to cater for online learning, which is happening in homes. We’re using more electricity, money for Internet bundles, food and other costs, which should be normally borne by the school. It’s unfair to demand more money from us,” she said, adding, she’s ready to go to court to stop the additional fee demands.
 
How long before they start asking parents to pay for buildings and grounds maintenance, electricity, water, security and other services?
 
Okiya said:
“We had already paid full fees for first term. We cannot now be required to pay more to cater for online learning, which is happening in homes. We’re using more electricity, money for Internet bundles, food and other costs, which should be normally borne by the school. It’s unfair to demand more money from us,” she said, adding, she’s ready to go to court to stop the additional fee demands.
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I agree with this parent. Asking for more online lessons fees when they already paid term 1 fees and only attended school for half the term is unfair. School meals, school bus fuel, school electricity, were paid for and parents never got a refund.
 
Internet said:
I agree with this parent. Asking for more online lessons fees when they already paid term 1 fees and only attended school for half the term is unfair. School meals, school bus fuel, school electricity, were paid for and parents never got a refund.
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They had covered almost 3/4 of the term, hapa principals wanatafuta mbesha kiharamu
 
Okiya said:
Private schools should think outside the box. Once Chinese virus imeisha, they should allow a mixture of online learning and classroom learning. Online learning should be subsidized and accessible to the masses.
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Government: Most learners are ready for exams. They are learning online
Pupil at home:
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Okiya said:
Parents are locked in a battle with private school owners and managers over fees following the unprecedented closure of learning institutions worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic.


Some institutions are accused of taking advantage of Covid-19 to charge extra fees for online classes that they are offering to mitigate the nationwide closure of schools that face a serious cash crunch as fees is their main revenue stream.


The situation has been worsened by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha’s extension of the closure by a month. Schools were to open for second term next week.


Many of them have now turned to online classes for which parents have been tasked to pay.

At Riara Road Primary and Riara Springs Primary, parents have been asked to pay between Sh13,500 and 17,500 per month for pupils in Grade One to Standard Eight.


A parent who did not want to be identified termed the fees as unfair and insensitive.

“We had already paid full fees for first term. We cannot now be required to pay more to cater for online learning, which is happening in homes. We’re using more electricity, money for Internet bundles, food and other costs, which should be normally borne by the school. It’s unfair to demand more money from us,” she said, adding, she’s ready to go to court to stop the additional fee demands.
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The problem is the parents themselves. Most shout publicly while secretly paying.
 
Mawaya said:
How long before they start asking parents to pay for buildings and grounds maintenance, electricity, water, security and other services?
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They can if they want to. Private schools don't force anyone to enroll. Wannabe middle class ndio hupromote the exploitative behavior because they don't leave. Instead they complain on the internet for a few days and accept the costs. People will keep being exploited until they learn how to vote with their feet. Those schools won't reduce any fees unless they experience a mass exit. A school owner is a capitalist and a businessperson. His/her objective is to maximize profits. So they have every incentive to "milk" parents until such a point when any more "milking" becomes counterproductive i.e students leave the institution. Profit maximization 101.
 
Swali: Are teachers and cooks in private schools paid full salary during holidays (when schools are closed)?
 
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