No CBC Funding For Private Schools – Magoha.
George Magoha, Cabinet Secretary for Education, has lashed out at private schools following a new squabble over Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) funding.
On Sunday, January 16, Magoha stated that the Ministry will not provide any financial assistance to private learning institutions during an inspection of newly-built CBC classrooms at Mang’u and Gatundu High Schools.
On Saturday, January 15, Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA) national chairman Charles Ochome appealed to the government to finance private schools in order to put in place necessary infrastructure for the upcoming Junior Secondary School transition.
The CS, on the other hand, maintained that parents had a choice about where to send their children and that those who chose private schools should be prepared to foot the bill.
Magoha noted that if a Kenyan chooses to send his or her child to a private school with all humility, that Kenyan should pay for it.
“As far as the government is concerned, I am the Minister for both public and private and I am asking all those private schools who feel they must take part in this Junior Secondary to create stand alone Junior secondary schools in their primary schools or they can do exactly what we are doing in our secondary schools, but at their own cost,” stated Magoha.
He also advised private schools that wanted to participate in the CBC transition to either repair the CBC classrooms within their primary school wings or foot the bill for new classes.
He advised parents who thought the directive was excessive to enroll their children in public schools where tuition was free.
“If you want free primary school, come to us, we have the capacity and teachers. If you want day secondary school, which is also absolutely free, come to government because it is paying for everything.
"As far as boarding is concerned, government is paying for all the tuition and what you have to take care of is just the residence and the food,” he added.
In his appeal, Ochome stated that private schools were struggling with resources, and that preparing the infrastructure, such as classrooms and purchasing academic materials, for the upcoming double intake would be a major challenge.
He contended that it was unjust for the government to pour billions of dollars into public schools while providing no financial assistance to private institutions.
“We, at the Kenya Private Schools Association, plead with the government to consider extending financial support to private schools in form of concessional loans payable with interest for the establishment of facilities for junior secondary schools.
Ochome stated that funding private schools will help establish adequate learning facilities for junior secondary schools now that the public school facilities are already overstressed.
The developments come as the government spends Ksh8 billion on building new classrooms in public high schools to accommodate the new CBC cohort.
On January 13, CS Magoha opened the first CBC classrooms at Siaya County’s Simerro Secondary School.
Magoha also revealed at the event that the second phase of the project would begin in April 2022 and that the infrastructure would be ready before the elections.
Also Read:
Private Schools Request Financial Support To Meet CBC Requirements For Establishing JSS.
No CBC Funding For Private Schools – Magoha
