The Kenyan Ministry of Education on Friday announced subsidized fees for secondary schools to boost enrolment among bright and needy youth.
Cabinet Secretary for Education Jacob Kaimenyi said reduced cost of secondary education will ease financial burden on parents and boost literacy levels in the country.”We have acted on the Presidential Taskforce’s recommendation to lower secondary school fees. The government will meet miscellaneous cost like learning materials, meals and examination fees to offload a heavy financial burden on parents,” Kaimenyi told reporters Friday in Nairobi.
President Uhuru Kenyatta last year appointed a taskforce to review the cost of secondary school education following a public outcry over exorbitant fees.
The task force recommended annual tuition fees of 260 U.S. dollars and 600 dollars for day and boarding secondary schools respectively.Kaimenyi disclosed secondary schools in remote counties will benefit from higher state subsidies to enable them to develop higher additional teachers and upgrade learning facilities.
“The government will progressively review the free secondary education, bearing in mind the transition rate from primary to secondary education is still low due to poverty and infrastructural deficiencies,” said Kaimenyi.
Kenya’s Ministry of Education has explored innovative policy and financing options to achieve a 100 percent transition rate from primary to secondary schools.Kaimenyi revealed the Treasury has allocated funds to upgrade secondary schools and enhance their capacity to produce technologically savvy students.
“We intend to equip laboratories and libraries in secondary schools to boost the students proficiency in sciences,” Kaimenyi said.
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