Kisii County Education Board (KCEB) chairman Dr Henry Onderi has threatened to close all unregistered schools operating in the county illegally.
Dr Onderi who is also the director at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST), Kisii Campus, warned unlicensed primary and secondary school owners against fleecing parents by providing poor quality education.
The don said the crackdown team has already been notified and the owners given enough notice to register or close down their schools.
He said any person who owns such an institution will face the full force the law and, therefore, advised the proprietors of such schools to make swift steps in legalising their schools’ operation.
Dr Onderi said the unregistered institutions are not recognised by the Ministry of Education.
“We will take on those proprietors who are operating schools without licences from the Ministry of Education. Most of them carry out their ‘businesses’ behind bars, shops and in abandoned homes. They also extend their working hours contrary to the laid down regulations,” he observed.
Addressing the press on Thursday in Kisii town, he advised parents to enrol their children in public schools and higher learning institutions where quality education is guaranteed.
The don was flanked by JOOUST administrator Evans Ongaga, who told parents to research to ascertain that schools they are interested in can provide the best education for their children.
Ongaga called on all education stakeholders from within and outside Kisii County to join hands in ensuring the county scores high in education in the national ranking.
“We have a role to play as stakeholders in the education sector. Unless we combine our energies, we will not achieve our ambition of making Kisii County the hub for education,” he warned.
This comes a few days later, when Kisii University Vice Chancellor Prof. John Akama while addressing a gathering at St. Charles Ichuni Girls School during prize giving ceremony, warned parents against taking their children’s education for granted.
Prof. Akama urged parents to enroll their children in recognized and avoid business oriented institutions, if they wanted their children to achieve the best in education be it morally, spiritually or academically.