Parents with children in public secondary schools are likely to pay higher school fees for the second term that starts next week.

The move is due to the rise in prices of food and delays by the Government in disbursing free tuition money.

The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association on Saturday said it had asked its members to prepare supplementary budgets to factor in the sharp rise in prices of basic foods.

Commodity prices

"We have no choice but to adjust boarding fees upwards to factor in the changes in commodity prices. This is the only way that schools will be able to operate," said Mr Cleophas Tirop, the association's chairman.

"Electricity charges are also going up. We cannot operate under the confines of the current guidelines if schools have to run."

The announcement by the school principals to increase the fees means parents, most of whom are reeling under the burden of high inflation, will have to dig deeper into their pockets to keep their children in school.

Speaking to the Nation, the KSSHA chairman said public schools were faced with serious financial deficits as the Government had failed to give out the first trance of the free secondary education funds in full.

"Schools have received Sh2,000 only for every student. The Government had promised to give Sh5,000 for the first trance," he said.

Pertinent issues

Under the Free Secondary Education Programme, the Government undertook to pay Sh10,000 for each student in public secondary schools.

The money, according to the schedule released by the Ministry of Education in January, is supposed to be released in three tranches of Sh5,000 for the first term, Sh3,000 and Sh2,000 for the second and third terms respectively.

Mr Tirop said there was need for an urgent stakeholders' meeting to address the issue of financing of secondary education, saying there were pertinent issues that were not addressed when FSEP was introduced.