The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the soft underbelly of prestigious private schools.
With institutions closed for the second month to stem the spread of the pandemic, many private schools face an uncertain future.
Buoyed by deteriorating standards, congestion, poor or lack of facilities and under-staffing in public schools, private education has been a thriving business for over 15 years.
From 1,440 private primary schools in 2002, the sector has grown more than five times to stand at 9,058 schools as of December 2019. However, the same cannot be said of public primary schools.
In 2002, there were 17,683 institutions and now the count stands at 23,286. The government only added 5,603 schools, a growth rate of 31.6 per cent. It is this gap that private schools stepped in to fill.
The primary school enrolment in 2002 was 6,371,200. Although it recorded an unusual drop last year, the current figure of 10.1 million is still high. It represents a 58.5 per cent rise and excludes the more than 2.7 million learners in pre-primary.
Whenever school enrolment data is given, officials tend to ignore learners in the alternative provision of basic education and training. Some sources place the number around two million. These schools are also oddly not under the Ministry of Education, but the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya.
Private school owners have had an assured steady flow of income until Covid-19 struck and caught many directors unprepared, with salaries to pay, and bills and loans to service. With no date in sight for the reopening of schools, the sector faces a dark future.
“All of us are struggling,” Mr Peter Ndoro, the CEO of the Kenya Private Schools Association, told the Nation on phone.
To make up for the time learners are at home, many schools came up with online programmes. Public schools have had to do with the lessons broadcast on TV and radio by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development.
The management had given ‘a 10 per cent discount’.
“The quality of education (given) through emails, unregulated online platforms and 20-minute free Zoom lessons by the school is wanting and not commensurate to the fees being paid by parents and guardians herein,” said their lawyer, Ahmednasir Abdullahi.
Parents from other schools have, informally, expressed the wish to be enjoined in the case.
WhatsApp group conversations for parents at Nova Pioneer schools seen by the Nation have also been awash with anger at invoices for 100 per cent tuition they were sent by management.
“These private institutions are wrong. We were sent an invoice for full tuition fees for second term. They have only sent us learning packs for us to teach the children,” a parent complained.
Parents argue that with children learning from home, they too are incurring expenses like electricity, Internet and food, which are usually borne by the schools. Additionally, they have to supervise the children. As the institutions look for the cash, parents are unsure of what will happen when the government opens schools. Will they be asked to pay fees again?
This would mean paying fees four times this year as there is still third term to come.
Private primary schools business grew exponentially in the late ’90s and 2000s as entrepreneurs took advantage of government failure to build more facilities, especially in urban centres.
Quality of education in public schools deteriorated, becoming worse after 2003 when the Free Primary Education was introduced. The programme led to massive congestion because of inadequate staffing and no resource allocation.
Ironically, public secondary education is highly valued, yet far cheaper than some private primary schools.
With increased competition for the few places in top public schools, those who could afford private education bolted out of the public system.
Businessmen/women with no background or passion for education ventured into the lucrative business. In low-end private schools, it has had various levels of disastrous results especially concerning the safety of children.
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