Can school carry forward fees to the next term?
The Sunday Nation
Nairobi,
27 September 2015
When announcing the new dates for the third term 2015, the government said that school fees already paid by parents would be carried forward to the next year. While that sounds like a fair arrangement, a closer look at the financial affairs of public schools presents a different picture.
Unlike private institutions, public schools do NOT charge “school fees”. Instead, parents contribute money to meet specific, itemised expenses that are not adequately covered by government financing. These are listed in the annual budget and the administration is bound to only spend the parents’ funds on those things.
My children study in a public school. At the annual general meeting of all parents held in March this year, we approved a budget of about Sh57 million. Out of this, the government was to give about Sh2.4 million through the Free Primary Education (FPE) programme and the parents to contribute a total of Sh53 million. The balance of Sh1.6m was to come from the hiring out of school facilities.
The first thing that pops out of this budget is that the FPE is extremely small compared to the financial requirements of the school – it is just 4.5% of the total budget. In fact, I remember joking with the school accountant that this FPE money cannot even pay the electricity bill which stood at Sh4.5m in 2014!
The parents’ contribution is paid in three equal instalments – once every term. So, what the government is saying is that our school should carry forward the Sh19m that we paid for the third term. I don’t think that will be possible; at least not the full amount.
The audited financial statement that was tabled and adopted during the AGM, reveals that the majority of the expenses are incurred whether the children are in school or not.
The major items are as follows: Sh13m p.a. for salaries and wages (teachers employed by the Board of Management, and non-teaching employees); Sh4m p.a. for electricity and other utilities (security lights must be kept on even when children are away); and Sh3.5m for classroom refurbishment and repairs.
The figure for salaries is so large because out of the 57 teachers in the school, 27 (almost a half) are employed directly by the Board. These ones are not on strike and must be paid their dues in full.
Only three items in the budget are consumed directly by students. These are food, exercise books and participation in co-curricula activities (sports competitions etc). The total amount for these direct expenses is Sh21.5m.
Now Sh21.5m is about 38% of the Sh57m total annual budget. Therefore, I do not expect our school to be able to carry forward more than 38% of the third term payments.
If it carries forward the full amount, it will face serious cash flow challenges – we might find the power disconnected when schools open. In view of this, I am against the carrying forward of the money; indeed, I urge those who haven’t already paid their third term contributions to do so!
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