The government will appeal the recent High Court ruling that declared its directive requiring parents to pay school fees via the eCitizen platform unlawful.Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said on Wednesday that while the Ministry of Education respects Justice Chacha Mwita’s ruling, the ministry is working with the Attorney General’s office to formally challenge the decision.“We will obey the courts, but we are going to appeal the decision because eCitzen is a platform that is very transparent,” Bitok said.While defending the directive to have fees channelled through the platform, the PS noted that the move was aimed at protecting parents and guardians from exploitation by school heads and promote transparency in schools’ accounts.“The reason why the government decided to go in that direction was to make payments by parents and stakeholders as transparent as possible so that everybody can see what is being paid,” he said.In his ruling on Tuesday, April 1, Justice Chacha Mwita also found that the Sh50 convenience fee imposed on transactions on eCitizen has no legal basis.He noted that the fee amounted to double charge and that the government is forcing people to use a system they did not ask for and making them pay to sustain it.“It does not make sense for the government to compel citizens to use a platform and then force them to pay to sustain it. This is irrational and unconscionable,” the judge said.The government issued the circular in January 2024 requiring schools to only collect fees via the eCitizen portal.PS Bitok revealed plans to appeal the court decision when he officially opened eight classrooms and ablution block at Kwa Njenga Primary School in Nairobi, fund by the United States Department of Defence.He insisted that through eCitizen, the government hoped to tame the entrenched indiscipline of rogue Principals and management boards who defied its guidelines on recommended annual fees in public schools.“We have had a problem for a long time. Sometimes, the government sets fees and some stakeholders increase the fees without consulting it. We are trying to make it as open and transparent as possible for everyone to see how the money goes,” he explained.US Ambassador to Kenya Marc Dillard handed over the Sh84 million classroom projectIt includes a perimeter fence and the grading and drainage in the school, which draws its 2,228 pupils from the nearby informal settlements.“We have invested $650,000 in this project, creating space for 600 students to expand their education,” the envoy said.The PS hailed the investment as a much-needed boon that will alleviate the strain on the school’s existing infrastructure and the demands of the competency-based curriculum.He said the government will prioritise expansion of school infrastructure to cope with CBC saying the new curriculum was essential in preparing Kenyan learners for a fast-changing global environment.
