You will go to jail, Ogamba warns school heads withholding exam certificates over fee arrears
said the government is working hard to ensure funds reach learning institutions on time
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has warned school heads withholding exam certificates from students that they face being jailed, besides disciplinary action being taken against them.
The CS said legal and administrative action will be taken against those who deny school leavers their exam results on grounds of unpaid fees balances.
“A few days ago, I issued a directive that no school, principal or headteacher should hold a student’s certificate. The directive is not idle, it is based on the law and also on the Kenya National Examinations Council Act, 2012,
“In fact do not wait for them to come for the documents, instead call the parents to come and collect them as a precautionary measure,” said Ogamba cautioning that any school head who defies the directive risks a jail term and punitive fines.
The CS spoke while presiding over a prize giving ceremony for Maryhill Girls High School in Thika, Kiambu County. He was accompanied by Nairobi Catholic Archdiocese Auxiliary Bishop Kamau and School Board Chairman Anthony Mwaura, among others.
He went on; “People say that this directive has been given so many times and nothing happens. I want to say this, if you hold (the certificates), I will take action both disciplinary and legal.”
Regarding schools capitation, Ogamba said the government is working hard to ensure funds reach the learning institutions on time.
“We are going to try as much as possible to ensure that capitation gets to schools before they open. I know it’s a big challenge but we are doing something about it,” stated the CS.
At the same time disclosed that his Ministry will conduct public participation regarding the higher education funding model across the country to align with the Court of Appeal demands.
He said the ministry has been working on a report since October last year, which is ready and is expected to inform the next cause of action regarding the funding model.
The government has been involved in a legal battle at the appellate court after a High Court decision that struck out it’s new funding model, introduced in May 2023, on the grounds that it was discriminatory and lacked sufficient public participation.
The Court of Appeal in its ruling directed the Attorney General, the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), and the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to publicise the funding model within 14 days to universities, colleges, and students.
Ogamba, at the same time, revealed that schools will be classified as either triple or double pathway schools, effectively doing away with the current national, extra-county, county, or sub-county schools.
The new structure, he said, will enable learners to pursue their passion and careers for posterity.
Mary Hill Girls Chief Principal Grace Macharia appealed for continued support to the school, which has a population of more than 2,200 students.
Mr Mwaura gifted each of the A grade KCSE candidates a laptop as an inspiration to the other learners.
With a candidacy of 587 students, the school was last year among the institutions that posted excellent results after it managed a mean score of 10.0511, an improvement from 2023 KCSE results when the school had posted a mean score of 9.4423.
Some 80 students managed to score straight As, 181 had A-minus, 139 got B+ 111 scored B plain while 37 had B-‘s. Another 32 scored C+, five had C plain while only two got C-.
