Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu announced on Monday, January 16, 2023, that there will be no fees for children enrolling in Junior Secondary Schools.
According to the CS, President William Ruto asked Treasury to make up Ksh15,000 per learner for capitation to facilitate free learning in all Junior Secondary Schools.
“We worked on a figure which is closer to that of senior secondary school and the President accepted. The amount the government has been given is KSh.22,244 for secondary and KSh.1,420 for primary school,” he said.
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He also emphasized that Kenya’s constitution guarantees free education, which is why there won’t be any fees for Grade 7. CS Machogu went ahead to reassure the country that there was no need for concern regarding the availability of teachers given that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) was planning to send out more teachers.
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“The TSC is in the process of recruiting 30,000 new teachers majority of whom will attend to learners at the Junior Secondary school level, we assure the country that we have enough teachers and those teachers have been adequately prepared for the same,” the CS assured the public.
Machogu mandated that parents only pay for uniforms which will be changed in Junior Secondary Schools. Junior Secondary pupils will wear different uniforms than lower primary kids, according to education CS Ezekiel Machogu.
speaking at the Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development on Monday, January 16, 2023, at the announcement of Form One placement, the CS said that the directive was one of the forms that had been created by President William Ruto.
The CS clarified that the Board of Management (BoMs) will be responsible for making the ultimate decision regarding the kind of school uniforms Junior Secondary students will wear.