Schools grapple with funds crisis ahead of exams

Public secondary schools in Taita Taveta County have run out of food and laboratory chemical supplies ahead of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Examination next week.

Multiple interviews with head teachers confirmed that they have no funds to source food and laboratory chemicals, among other reagents for practical subjects like chemistry, biology and physics.

Dr Aggrey Boys National School Principal William Mwandigha and his Mwqangeka Girls counterpart Beatrice Mwash disclosed that they owe food and c laboratory chemical suppliers millions of shillings worth of pending bills.

The outstanding bills, they noted, have crippled the running of public institutions in the region. “It has become an uphill task to manage schools. Paying salaries for the non-teaching staff, Board of Management (BOM) teachers and suppliers has become a major challenge,” noted Mr Mwandigha.

The heads noted that the huge outstanding bills have become a major challenge and a nightmare as suppliers have frequently been coming to schools in search of payment for the goods and services they had rendered to learning institutions.

They revealed that they have resorted to chasing away students with huge fee balances as a coping mechanism to sustain schools, even as local institutions have started releasing students before the term ends, with Mwangeka Girls being one of them.

“We are in a state of dilemma as KCSE nears. We do not have funds to source laboratory chemicals for pr,actice subjects, as suppliers are always on our necks. Our laboratories are dry of chemicals among other reagents and we cannot place orders due to huge pending bills.

We have no funds and we do not know what to do next unless the government quickly intervenes,” noted Mr Mwandigha.

Ms Mwash noted the huge pending bills coupled with fee arrears have forced management of schools to frequently chase away students with fee balances

“We have resorted to chasing away students with huge fee arrears as a coping measure to sustain schools which have been badly affected for lack of funds,” she said.

The principals were speaking at a hotel in Wundanyi town yesterday during the disbursement of over Sh2 million bursaries by Lawyer Raymond Ngoo to more than 1,200 bright secondary school students from poor families in Wundanyi constituency.

Lawyer Ngoo, who has declared interest in the Wundanyi parliamentary seat in 2027, said he was touched by the plight of poor parents who have to contend with the harsh economic situation to feed and educate their children.

“Every Kenyan has a right to education in line with the constitution.  There is an urgent need for MPs to increase bursaries to assist poor students to further their education,” said the Lawyer.

Addressing heads and parents, Ngoo said he decided to distribute bursaries to poor students and parents to help them renew their hopes of a better future. “Parents and students have been depressed for lack of fees due to the ravaging poverty,” the Lawyer said at the meeting.

Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Mwadime said the Office of the Controller of Budget (CoB) decision to disapprove the county government from disbursing ward bursary funds has done more harm than good to poor parents who are still struggling to raise fees.

The governor said the fate of 100 students who have been receiving full scholarships from the ward funds now hangs in the balance as the county is unable to raise their fees due to limited resource allocation and distribution from the Exchequer account and low on-source revenue.

He said the CoB has gone to court to stop the operation of the ward funds by counties.

Mr Mwadime, who was the chief guest at the function, said they require a total of Sh13 million for scholarships for students from the county that has been marginalised in resource allocation and distribution by successive governments for years.

At the same time, the principals disclosed that other pending bills in their schools include water and electricity.

“Suppliers have been knocking our doors every day to demand their dues. The problem has also been compounded by huge fee balances parents owe to their respective schools,” Mwandigha told the governor.

“The pending bills are running to millions of shillings and the board is still waiting for the national government to disburse money to settle them for the smooth operation of the schools,” said the principal yesterday.

Mwandigha noted that boarding schools are the most affected by enormous pending bills. The national school principal noted it has become difficult for heads to run schools without enough resources.

“In most schools, heads are using their own resources to feed students because suppliers have discontinued supplying food due to huge pending bills.

 And that is why heads have resorted to sending students home with fee balances because it has become difficult to run learning institutions,” maintained the principal.

The governor further said his administration has resolved to prioritise education to not only transform the lives of the local community but also as an equaliser to development.

Mwadime said he was aware of the hardships the principals were going through in the management of schools and assured them of his support.

“As a former teacher and MP, I know what you are going through following the skyrocketing of food prices, famine, poverty and climate change. I have prioritised education as my first development agenda,” the governor told the principals and parents.