Yes, children can pursue primary education up to Standard Eight, especially now that primary school education is free. But how many of those children who qualify for secondary school can and do go there? 

The majority of children from poor families end up at the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) level because the fee charged in Form 1, especially in the first term, is too high and discouraging. 

This after buying everything before your child is admitted - bed sheets, shoes, an atlas, a Bible, a hymn book, uniform, a wash basin, toilet soap and whatever. 

Then you pay Sh16,000 the first term and Sh5,000 and Sh4,000 for the next two terms. Why should parents pay at least Sh25,000 after having bought items worth a similar amount? How many Kenyans can afford the fees and items at one go? 

Nowadays, the high fees charged by our institutions are affordable only to the very few well-to-do Kenyans. Institutions offering good courses are so expensive that only children from rich families can afford to learn there. 

There are many cases of students who passed with B- being employed as nursery school teachers because they cannot go on with education, while a few with grade C passes are pursuing degree programmes. 

At the end of the day, the children from rich families will be the masters of those from poor families in the workplace and they will enjoy better living standards. What justice is this? 

I am appealing to the Government to hear the humble cry of the poor. Please allow those who passed well to pursue studies in good colleges without charging them the earth. 

Education in Kenya has become the property of the rich. We want to see this trend reversed. 

JUMA MATHENGE, 
Kitui. 

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