With the growing financial strain parents are undergoing as learning resume countrywide, Rurigi Secondary School in Uasin Gishu County has adopted barter trade to ease the fees burden on papers.
At the institution, parents are allowed to pay fees in form of firewood, animal feeds, as well as building blocks.
Speaking in an interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday, May 10, Edward Wanjala – the school’s principal – noted that the school was gaining from the programme since it had reduced the expenses on the parents’ part.
He explained that most of items such as building blocks were on-demand given the construction works at the institution.
He detailed that the school did not want to see any student miss out on the syllabus, citing the shortened school calendar.
“Firewood is something we use on a daily basis, so we decided that parents can bring them together with maize,
and animal feed because the institution has cows that we are rearing,” the Deputy Principal concurred.
Apart from commodities, a section of the parents also offer to work at the institution and the wages transferred to the fee kitty.
Spencer Olaka, a wielder in Burnt Forest, disclosed that the school contracted him to repair broken furniture so that his daughter could stay in school.
“It has really eased the burden for me. Instead of being paid at the end of the work, the money will be used to cover my child’s education at the institution,” he stated.
Other parents noted that the school had become popular among residents, with the student enrollment rising yearly.
“For example, I have brought close to 4 lorries of rocks to the school and my child has never been chased for school fees,” another parent stated.
Among education stakeholders, concerns have been raised over President Uhuru Kenyatta’s 100 per cent transition policy with the reality of hefty school fees hitting the parents hard.
In recent weeks, Education Cabinet Secretary, George Magoha, has cautioned school heads against sending children home for school fees, rather calling on them to develop new ways of running their school affairs.
“Do not send a Kenyan child home. If the parent comes with Ksh4,000 and the balance is Ksh10,000, take the Ksh4,000 and agree when he is going to bring the Ksh10,000,” he stated.