Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has said that Junior Secondary School is free.
CS Machogu’s remarks follows reports that learners joining Junior Secondary are required to pay some fees.
Moreover, the CS while speaking on Monday, January 30 after monitoring the reporting of Grade seven learners to Junior Secondary School at Nairobi Primary stated that the government has catered for all the expenses and that no Grade 7 learner should be left out in the ongoing transition.
CS Machogu urged parents and guardians of Grade 7 learners to ensure their children report to schools, adding that it is compulsory, in line with the government’s 100 per cent transition initiative.
“I want to clarify that Junior Secondary School is free and compulsory. No Principal, School board, PTA or any other person is allowed to come up with unauthorized levies in the name of registration fees,” CS Machogu said.
The CS also reported that all Grade VII learners in public schools will be issued with a textbook in each of the core learning areas at Junior Secondary School and the optional subjects they will choose.
Also Read: Grade 7 Students to Report to their Respective Primary Schools for JSS Education
Likewise, the Education CS noted that a total of 17,893,270 copies of learners’ books and 423,514 copies of teachers’ guides will be distributed by the end of the exercise next week.
“The government of Kenya has disbursed a total of Sh3,164,365,856 billion which has purchased all the required books for Grade seven which again are free for all public Junior Secondary learners, and we have adequate books that will be given to each student,” he said.
The schedule for distribution is set to run from January 30 and February 17, 2023.
In addition, head teachers have been advised to check the number of books supplied to their schools. Similarly, schools that have variances between the number of books delivered in relation to the number of learners in Grade seven should report to the Sub County Education office.
