A new survey by the Elimu Bora Working Group (EBWG) has found that parents in Kenya are selling assets and borrowing money to meet illegal charges imposed by public secondary schools. The survey revealed that 98 per cent of households either paid an illegal levy in 2025, expected to pay one in 2026, or expected to pay more than the gazetted school fees. This financial strain is forcing families to make difficult choices.
The most common charges imposed by schools were remedial tuition, motivation fees, development levies, and payments for printing paper. These charges had a significant impact on households, with 61.6 per cent saying the extra levies were difficult or impossible to afford. The median cost of remedial tuition and motivation fees was Sh5,000, affecting 49.2 per cent of households. Development levies, which affected 32.2 per cent of households, had a median cost of Sh5,000.
The consequences of non-payment were severe, with 45.9 per cent of learners surveyed occasionally being sent home or barred from class. In some cases, learners were frequently sent home or barred from class, with 17.5 per cent reporting experiencing this very often. The survey also found that day-school learners bore the brunt, with 64.9 per cent being sent home or barred from class, compared with 40.5 per cent in boarding schools.
The poorest households were disproportionately affected, with 61.3 per cent of learners from households earning less than Sh10,000 a month occasionally sent home compared with 23.1 per cent among households earning between Sh30,001 and Sh60,000. The survey also found that boarding-school entry costs can substantially exceed official limits, with parents expected to pay an average of Sh62,715 per child in 2026.
The EBWG report argues that the collection of levies was often coercive, with two-thirds of parents reporting receiving verbal demands for payment, while 44.3 per cent reported threats to send learners home. Only 19.1 per cent of parents were properly consulted before levies were introduced, and 58.2 per cent received no meaningful explanation of how the money is used.
The report recommends that schools publish annual budgets, bank all levies through official school accounts, and issue receipts for every payment. It also calls for clear directives barring schools from sending children home, denying them meals, or excluding them from examinations because of inability to pay. The EBWG wants a comprehensive national assessment of illegal levies to establish the full scale of the problem and guide systemic reforms.
The findings of the survey come against a legal framework that guarantees children free and compulsory basic education. The High Court has previously held that public schools cannot impose charges without the requisite approval and that no child should be denied education for failure to pay approved additional charges. The government has repeatedly warned public-school administrators against arbitrarily increasing fees or imposing additional levies.
Key points
- Nearly two in three Kenyan households struggle to pay illegal school fees imposed by public secondary schools.
- The poorest households are disproportionately affected by the illegal fees.
- The government is urged to take action to prevent schools from imposing unauthorized charges and to provide relief to parents who have already paid.
