Gov’t to appeal e-Citizen ruling on school fees, PS Bitok says

The government will appeal the High Court ruling that declared its directive requiring parents to pay National Schools’ fees through the eCitizen platform illegal.

Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said although the Ministry of Education respects Justice Chacha Mwita ruling on Tuesday, it is liaising with the Attorney General’s office to appeal the decision formally.

The PS defended the directive to channel fees through eCitizen as a move to protect parents and guardians from exploitation by school heads and promote transparency in schools’ accounts.

“We will obey the courts. But we are going to appeal the decision because eCitzen is a platform that is very transparent.”
“The reason why the government decided to go in that direction was to make payments by parents and stakeholders as transparent as possible so that everybody can see what is being paid,” he said.

He said that by insisting on eCitizen payments, the government hoped to tame the entrenched indiscipline of rogue principals and management boards who defied its guidelines on recommended annual fees in public schools.

“Web have had a problem for a long time. Sometimes, the government sets fees and some stakeholders increase the fees without consulting it. We are trying to make it as open and transparent as possible for everyone to see how the money goes.”

The PS was speaking at Kwa Njenga Primary School in Nairobi after officially receiving eight classrooms and three ablution blocks built by the United States Department of Defence.

The court termed the move to force parents to pay school fees through the platform unconstitutional.

U.S. acting Ambassador Marc Dillard handed over the Sh84 million project, which also includes a perimeter fence and the grading and drainage in the school, which draws its 2,228 pupils from the nearby informal settlements.

“We have invested $650,000 in this project, creating space for 600 students to expand their education,” the envoy said.

The PS hailed the investment as a much-needed boon that will alleviate the strain on the school’s existing infrastructure and the demands of the competency-based curriculum.

He said the government will prioritize expansion of school infrastructure to cope with CBC saying the new curriculum was essential in preparing Kenyan learners for a fast-changing global environment.