A spot check by Capital FFM News in various schools showed increased activity as the new students were registered and escorted to their dormitories and shown their classes/MOSES MUOKI
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 9 – Form One students across the country started reporting to their respective schools on Tuesday at a time the Free Day Secondary Education programme is kicking off.
A spot check by Capital FM News in various schools showed increased activity as the new students were registered and escorted to their dormitories and shown their classes.
At the Kenya High School, the principal Flora Mulatya expressed optimism that the initiatives put in place by the government will lead to improved performance this year.
“We are receiving our Form Ones from today and they started reporting as early as 6am. We started attending to them and we have already admitted almost 100 girls and we have received text books also for form one. So it is a good beginning because this year unlike other years, the form ones will be issued with books immediately and their fees have also been paid by the government,” she said.
The situation was the same at the Nairobi Milimani Secondary School where the students were full of excitement as they began the next chapter in their education.
“I came to this school because I wanted to perform well and make history. I also want to go to a good university since I like Maths and even English. I want to start a business when I grow up,” stated Brian, one of the new students.
“I have been admitted to this school and I have seen that the teachers are really disciplined and I know that I can perform really well,” said Joshua Greg, another student.
The senior teacher Jenifer Mwiti who is also the English Language Head of Department in the school welcomed the students and urged then to work hard during their years at the institution.
“We are doing well for the admissions and we have had a busy morning. The parents and students are coming and we have received them quite well and the whole program is going on well. We have no problem. We expect the performance to really improve because the books come in handy,” she stated.
The principal of Nyeri High School JK Maina applauded the national government for disbursing the free secondary education funds and text books on time.
Maina stated that they received the text books on Monday and the funds are already in the school bank account in readiness for starting this year in high gear.
“We want to appreciate the government, yesterday we received the text books and they are in the books store. We want also to appreciate the government because the funds are already in the school bank account,” he stated
He said that they are admitting more than 300 Form One students this year unlike last year where they admitted 270 students.
A spot check by Capital FFM News in various schools showed increased activity as the new students were registered and escorted to their dormitories and shown their classes/MOSES MUOKI
On her part, Iriaini Girls Secondary school principal Margaret Muthoni Munene echoed similar sentiments stating that they have already received the text books and funds.
”We have also received the government money for free secondary education and therefore the parents are expected to pay only boarding fee and money to buy school uniform,” she stated.
The government has already sent out Sh29.5 billion for the Free Day Secondary Education Programme (FDSE) programme which is helping to achieve a 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school level.
Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang stated that the government has released a further Sh7.5 billion for printing and supply of six core textbooks.
He stated that the funds disbursed to schools will cover all the tuition and other operations as per guidelines for each student enrolled in secondary schools irrespective of whether they are enrolled in sub-county, county, extra-county or national schools.
For schools with boarding facilities, national schools and extra-county schools in the urban centres of Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret will charge Sh53,554 while all other boarding schools will charge Sh40,435.
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