Mt Kenya, Western, Nyanza Residents Think School Fees Will Increase In 2024- Infotrak

The majority of residents in the Mt Kenya region and Western and Nyanza regions are pessimistic that the cost of school fees will increase in 2024, according to a survey by Infotrak.

The survey published by the research and consulting firm on Monday, January 22 revealed that 73% of Nyanza residents believe that they will be the most affected by the increase in school fees.

68 per cent of those in the Mt Kenya and Western regions believe that they will have to dig deeper in their pockets to afford school fees for their children.

In the Rift Valley region where President William Ruto hails from, 65 per cent fear possibly paying more for their school fees, higher than 64 per cent of their counterparts in the Eastern region, the lowest out of the eight sampled regions.

The report comes a day after President Ruto directed all teachers and education officials to stop demanding school fees from parents amidst the reopening of schools.

"I want to say this for the avoidance of any doubt. We have released, in the last one month, Ksh62 billion. Money for primary school, Junior Secondary School, TVETs and universities. We have released Ksh10 billion for bursaries for all our needy students," he told the crowd on Sunday, January 21.

"I want to ask as a directive, no education official of any place shall demand for fees from any parent. The government has made its commitment, we have given enough money to make sure that all our children go to school and they learn. Therefore, there will be no requirement by parents for them to pay any extra fees."

Infotrak also stated that overall, 67 per cent of Kenyans think the cost of school fees would increase in 2024, among the reasons why they expressed worry about things getting tough in the new year.

56 per cent think unemployment will increase in 2024 owing to job cuts and freezes as companies are compelled to deal with punitive taxes affecting their operations and reducing the take-home pay of their employees.

52 per cent think the dollar exchange rate against the Kenyan shilling would increase, compounding the woes of businesses that used to do well when the exchange rate was low. 

By the time of publishing this article, the shilling had crossed the Ksh166 mark against the US dollar.

Infotrak also reported that 51 per cent think the cost of energy will increase, a matter which includes electricity.

Generally, 55 per cent of Kenyans were struggling to make ends meet, with 62 per cent in the Coast region.

In terms of age, Kenyans between 18-26 years at 61 per cent were struggling to make ends meet, more than any other age group.