STUDENTS WHO FAIL TO PAY FEES ARE A SOURCE OF DISTRUST

One Wanyana Sarah has four children, all in primary school and were recently sent home for outstanding school fees.
“Business is bad; most people are unable to pay in full and we have nothing left to do!
Wanyana is not alone. Just last week, several schools in the country sent thousands of students home in a bid to force students to pay outstanding tuition. Many parents send their students to school each term after paying only part of the tuition in the hope that they would settle the outstanding balance by mid-term. But as the weeks go by, most find they can’t meet the deadlines.

To make the situation more complex, the schools do not reimburse the students for time lost. It’s only in exceptional cases that remedial lessons are offered. Some students miss anywhere from a week to a month and sometimes a whole term. In the end, both parents and students lose. And this being the third term, students in candidate classes, like Primary Seven (7) who fail to meet their tuition and exam fees on time risk missing out on the exams.
There’s no government policy that could redress such issue, the general understanding however, is that schools would keep the students in class until the end of the term and withhold their reports until the fees is cleared.
In the past schools used to encourage students to keep up to the end of the term but this cannot work given that each school has its own unique realities.
Some teachers opposed to this idea say they have genuine fears. They cite extreme cases in which students move to a different school each term when they fail to settle their tuition.
It is very common among private schools that are just starting. Some students start off by paying for only the first term, default on the subsequent terms until they are sent away.
There is therefore a need to make a radical change in the policy to address several issues. What happens if a student pays fees and chooses to leave before the end of the term? Are they entitled to a refund? Should the head teacher sue the parents who default on tuition?
Indeed the final decision should not disadvantage the student, who is supposed to obtain an education, whenever the tuition is finally paid. There needs to be a framework for school fees, involving the school management committee or board of governors.
“The terms of reference should be clear to students and parents when they start the term for avoidance of grief, to avoid arbitrary decisions.
At Springs Alive community school (SPACS), however, we maintain a more tolerant policy; we don’t send home students for defaulting on fees.
We always remind them [defaulting students] throughout the term and withhold their reports at the end of the term. We do this for the students’ good since we don’t want them to miss class. Sometimes, however, you find that its even useless to withhold the student’s report, observed SPACS Headteacher!

Besides, in a bid to support the needy children at SPACS, we will be looking for means and ways of sustaining SPACS and one of the ways is through collecting fees from the students that can afford.
We are seeking the reader’s opinions and advise as to how we can do this, kindly hit to comment button and leave us your remarks, will be very grateful.