Private school owners decried losses they will incur following the government's decision to have Junior Secondary Schools domiciled in Primary schools.
Speaking during the official opening of Mary Joy Junior secondary school at Mombasa on Sunday, December 4, the school owner Mary Waigi stated that the school was ready to admit students.
“This has cost us much. A lot of money which I cannot even state the amount. The school construction was ready and it will remain to be independent.
When a new issue is introduced, it comes with its own cost, and being an entrepreneur, you have to be ready, especially at such a time when the economy is tough. Since we believe we are entrepreneurs, we trust God will see us through,” she uttered.
Waigi also stated that private schools do not suffer from teachers shortage as they always take advantage of unemployed tutors in the country.
“We do not have a shortage of teachers since there are a lot of teachers out there who are unemployed. We are taking that advantage to employing those teachers. We are also happy because the government is taking the issue seriously and has promised to employ 30,000 teachers in January,” she announced.
Kenya Private Schools Association chairman, Charles Ochome, stated that the facilities which had already been constructed are suitable for every kind of student.
“We are putting up facilities that are acceptable to all our children even those with special needs. Parents need to cooperate to ensure that children go to the next level. That's why we have day schools in every part of the country,” he announced.
Rukia Omar, assistant secretary KPSA echoed that institutions were ready to admit students, calling on the government to take note of the extra effort private schools always put in to ensure the students get quality education.
“The government is working as it should, as private schools, we are ready as you can see we are here to open this building which is ready for use.
We are asking the government to treat every child equally either in private or public schools. They are all Kenyan children. Private schools students do good in school because of the effort we make as teachers and parents in private schools,” she stated.
Mary Joy School was approved by the former education cabinet secretary George Magoha after paying a visit in July. He however made it clear that private schools would not receive capitalization from the government.
Speaking during Magoha's visit, Waigi revealed that she had spent Ksh110 million to construct the school.
KPSA’s remarks came after an interim report by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform proposed that junior secondary schools should be domiciled in primary schools.
"The Presidential Working Party on Education Reform presented an interim report to President William Ruto today. Consequently, the government has given the following directives:
Junior secondary schools - Grade 7, Grade 8 and Grade 9 - will be domiciled in the existing primary schools. The Ministry of Education will provide the necessary guidelines on how this will be done," read part of a statement from State House Spokesperson, Hussein Mohammed on December 1.