How illegal levies are pushing learners out of school

The Ministry of Education has once again come under sharp scrutiny as illegal school fees levied on learners continue to drive them out of school, clawing back gains made towards achieving the right to access education.

A new survey by a lobby group has revealed that nearly half of learners across the country are being pushed out of classrooms for failure to pay illegal levies, with those who cannot pay being completely kept away from classrooms.

The study by the Elimu Bora Working Group (EBWG), released on Tuesday, showed that 49.5 per cent of learners are occasionally or very often sent home or barred from class because of levies outside the approved fee structure.

It also emerged that the burden is heavier in day schools, where 64.9 per cent of learners are sent home or barred from class, compared with 40.5 per cent in boarding schools.

Among day-school learners, the research, conducted between January and June this year, found that six out of 10 children miss school days because of unlawful levies, while about five in 10 learners miss examinations or tests.

Some 48.9 per cent of the respondents said they lose motivation to attend school, while 42.6 per cent of their counterparts face discrimination because of unpaid illegal levies.

The survey covered 388 parents, guardians and grandparents across 11 counties and found illegal charges in every county, school cluster and school category.

The counties included Baringo, Kakamega, Kiambu, Kisumu, Makueni, Mandera, Meru, Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru and Uasin Gishu.

Elimu Bora further found that poverty-stricken families bear the brunt of the problem, with 61.3 per cent of learners from households earning less than Sh10,000 a month being sent home at least occasionally.

Only about two in 10 learners from households earning between Sh30,001 and Sh60,000 were affected.

"Exclusion is driven by who cannot pay, not by how much is demanded," Gibson Mwaita, programmes manager at Transparency International-Kenya, said during the launch of the report in Nairobi.

According to the report, six in 10 households that responded during the survey said extra levies were difficult or impossible to afford.

At the same time, the group observed that nearly 37 per cent reported borrowing money or selling assets very often to meet these outlawed costs.

The levies, according to the study, include remedial tuition and motivation fees, which affect 49.2 per cent of households, while development levies affect 32.2 per cent.

Other illegal levies imposed by schools, the survey documented, include activity fees, computer (ICT) fees, Parent Teachers Association (PTA) fees, holiday tuition, welfare and medical funds, uniform and bedding, among others.

This year alone, the study found that parents paid an average of Sh5,000 for remedial tuition and a similar amount for development fees, even as some families reported charges as high as Sh50,000 to Sh60,000.

On top of that, parents also parted with Sh1,500 for activity levies and cumulatively paid Sh9,000 for ICT, PTA and holiday tuition levies, with 83.3 per cent of affected households reporting threats of being sent home if they failed to pay.

"The findings shows that more than nine in 10 households surveyed either paid an illegal levy in 2025, expect to pay one in 2026 or expect to pay more than the gazetted school fee," the report read in part.

At the same time, the report documented 87 per cent of those affected as having never complained, while 82 per cent were unaware of where to report and 54 per cent were reportedly afraid that their child would be victimised.

Similarly, only slightly more than half of respondents knew the gazetted fee for their child's school type.

Across school categories, the report said costs rise with the prestige of the school. For instance, the study showed that a parent averagely expects to pay Sh77,440, as opposed to the approved Sh65,054.

Parents with children in C2 schools are charged as much as Sh59,800, which is already above the gazetted fee of Sh53,210, while those in C3 schools part with Sh42,000, the report shows.

"Parents in C4 schools are paying up to Sh20,000," said Cornel Oduor of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, accusing the Ministry of failing to implement its circulars and guidelines.

When asked how their expected 2026 payment compares with the gazetted amount, 45 per cent said they expect to pay more, while only 14.5 per cent expect to pay exactly the official amount.

A further 23.3 per cent, the study observed, could not make the comparison because they did not know the official figure for school fees.

EBWG said that, among those who raised concerns, nearly 37 per cent said no action was taken, while eight per cent said they were victimised and only 38 per cent said the complaint was resolved.

Of the respondents, five out of 10 parents had fee structures, two out of 10 had receipts, while three held no evidence.

The report said schools frequently cite delayed or inadequate capitation disbursements as the reason for asking parents to cover operational gaps, including the hiring of Board of Management teachers and support staff.

According to the organisation, the impact does not end when a learner is sent home, as the survey found cases in which schools withheld certificates or refused to clear learners, particularly Form Four candidates, until illegal charges were settled.

"Such practices can obstruct access to higher education and employment after a learner has completed secondary school," said Emmie Erondanga, Chief Executive Officer, Misskoch-Kenya.

These alarming revelations come despite several periodic fee guidelines and circulars issued by the Ministry of Education, capping fees for boarding and day secondary schools and reiterating the prohibition of unauthorised levies.

Elimu Bora blamed the problem on the Ministry for failing to implement the Basic Education Act in a way that would address the concerns, accusing some unnamed State officials of colluding with schools to impose the levies.

"There is a collusion of those putting the levies and education officials in the counties," claimed Oduor.

The group called on the Ministry of Education to urgently audit school fee structures, enforce the law against institutions imposing illegal levies, ensure full and timely capitation, and establish confidential complaints mechanisms that protect parents and learners from retaliation.