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{
    "id": 1498658,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1498658/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 252,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr Julius Migos Ogamba",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Education",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "uniforms across the country is to ensure that school uniforms do not become prohibitively expensive. The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms also captured in their report the matter of the prohibitive cost of school uniforms. They noted that school uniforms are expensive for parents because school administrators collude with suppliers and force parents to purchase from specific suppliers that are identified by the school administration. Consequently, they recommended that the Ministry of Education provide guidelines to regulate and liberalise school uniforms in basic education institutions. We are now working to implement the Resolution of the House and the recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms. Presently, school uniforms are determined by the boards of management of those institutions in consultation with the parents' associations of those schools. This is according to Regulation 67 of the Basic Education Regulations. We are also reviewing those regulations in the context of the ongoing education sector reforms. We have drafted the requisite reform Bills for submission to Parliament. We are now developing draft regulations. That review will require us to consider and balance the various factors, such as the need for standardisation vis-a-vis the role of school uniforms as unique identifiers and marks of schools' traditions and history. Some uniforms are also sensitive to climatic conditions in certain areas and specific cultural and religious contexts. In the meantime, as we work to provide an appropriate legal and policy framework, we are already implementing measures to ensure that school uniforms are not prohibitively expensive. By a Circular dated 30th May 2023, under Ref. No. MOE Headquarters/3/13/3, regional and county directors of education were directed to ensure the stoppage of the practice where schools stock uniforms and compel parents to buy them or direct parents to purchase uniforms from specified suppliers. We will also note and process the names of non-compliant schools for necessary action within the provisions of the law. The Ministry also issued a directive to school principals to the following effect: No school will direct parents to any particular outlet to purchase uniforms and, no school will stock any uniforms and boarding-related items whatsoever. The guidelines for the implementation of junior secondary education are clear, and no learner shall be excluded from school for failure to afford school uniforms. That Circular is indicated as Annex No.3 in our written response. I wish to point out that under the current legal and policy framework, the scope of the Government's role in free and compulsory basic education is limited to paying tuition fees. At the primary school level, the Government provides capitation at the rate of Ksh14,420 per learner per year. The rate for junior secondary schools is Ksh15,042 per learner per year, and the rate for secondary schools is Ksh22,244 per learner per year. Boarding items are not covered under that capitation by the Government. Parents cater for boarding costs. In this context, it is the responsibility of the parents to buy boarding items such as mattresses, buckets, metal boxes and slippers for their learners. The Ministry ensures that the costs of those items are affordable by prohibiting schools from requiring parents to purchase those items from specific suppliers or the schools themselves. The funds Parliament allocates to the Ministry of Education are for capitation to support tuition-related aspects such as textbooks. That is why the centralised purchase of textbooks is funded by retaining part of the capitation to purchase and distribute them to schools. We have implemented several measures to address unhealthy and illegal practices in schools, with a particular focus on combating alcohol and drug abuse. Those efforts aim to safeguard students' well-being, enhance the learning environment, and promote moral and social responsibility. Some of those measures include creating a policy framework. The Ministry of Education has developed policies that outline guidelines for preventing and managing alcohol and drug abuse in schools. Those include the National Guidelines for Alcohol and Substance Use Prevention and Management in Basic Education Institutions."
}