Parents from ACC&S Chomo Secondary School in Gatanga have protested the move by the administration to charge them Ksh8,000 to renovate a dormitory that burnt down last week.
The parents claim that the administration only sent them a message telling them to come for their children without any further details.
Gladys Gitau, one of the parents, said she had taken her son for form one admission on 8th February and on 15th she was told to pick him up.
Gitau said her son had only been in school for one week adding that she had spent up to the last coin in his admission.
She said on Saturday, another message followed requiring parents to take back their children to school. The parents were also instructed to bring with them the cash for dormitory renovation.
In addition, any parent who had not cleared tuition fees was compelled to clear it failure to which they would not be allowed into the school.
“My child was in school for only one week and I don’t understand why I should be made to pay this huge amount of money.
“This being a public school, it should have an insurance cover to cater for such damages instead of transferring the burden to the parents,” she said.
Further, she said the school has a population of 800 students and each paying Ksh8,000 will amount to Ksh6.4 million which is way too much to repair the damage.
“The said dormitory is partially burnt and this means they are not constructing the building afresh and the money required is less than this,” she remarked.
Eliud Wanderi, another parent, said his son was in school for only five days and he was forced to pick him up when the incident happened.
He claims the school is out to exploit parents saying there was no meeting held between them and the administration to assess the extent of the damage and how much it would cost to repair it.
“What criteria did they use to arrive at this amount yet as parents we have not been briefed on anything about it?
“We have also not been allowed to see the damaged dormitory and so we don’t know why were are being asked to pay this money,” he added.
Wanderi also said the administration wanted to intimidate the parents claiming that when he got to the school slightly before 8.00 am he found police officers manning the gate.
“I don’t know what necessitated the presence of police officers because this clears treats us like criminals despite the fact that we were bringing back out children” he added.
He further urged the administration to come clean on the issue saying there could be some hidden issues.
“We need to know the cause of the fire if it’s electrical, the insurance should pay and if it’s arson, the CCTV footage should be produced and the culprits take responsibility,” said Wanderi.
County Director for Education Ann Kiilu has confirmed that the matter has been taken up for investigation.
