Alliance Girls' School on spot over 100% fee hike, millions in irregular spending

The Ministry of Education has moved to crack down on schools accused of charging exorbitant fees and defying government guidelines.

The CS said he has directed the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to initiate disciplinary action against Margaret Njeru, the chief principal of Alliance Girls High School, over the implementation of an unauthorised fee structure.

“We received a lot of complaints from parents of Alliance Girls that the school fees had been raised to Ksh.120,000 and this was not authorised, so we sent our quality assurance team there and they did an investigation and they confirmed that indeed the school fees had been raised to that amount without the ministry’s approval,” said Ogamba.

An investigative assessment report established that parents were required to pay Ksh.120,179 for the 2026 academic year—more than double the ministry-approved maximum of Ksh.53,558.

The audit also flagged questionable spending, revealing allocations to non-essential and inflated budget lines.

These included Ksh.1.1 million for moral and spiritual activities, Ksh.16 million for annual trips, Ksh.13 million for prize giving and speeches, Ksh.5 million for prize vouchers, sweets and examiners, and Ksh.3 million for airtime and administrative allowances.

The school’s Board of Management, now facing possible dissolution, is further accused of approving a Ksh.25 million budget for a five-day staff trip to Dubai, with the administration reportedly tasked to bridge a Ksh.13 million deficit.

The ministry’s action has sparked online discussion, with parents sharing fee structures from several C1 schools, formerly national schools, showing annual charges ranging between Ksh.90,000 and Ksh.130,000.

Some school heads who spoke on condition of anonymity attributed the fee increments to delayed disbursement of capitation funds and, in some cases, outright insufficiency.

They argued that the situation has been worsened by the rising cost of living and inflation, which has significantly increased the cost of running schools, pushing administrators into difficult financial decisions to keep institutions operational.

“All the principals who might have engaged in raising school fees without the approval of the ministry will face the same processes. When we get complaints, just like we did from Alliance, we will be taking action with the Teachers Service Commission and ourselves to ensure we bring some order in that space,” Ogamba said.

Citizen TV has since established that Alliance Girls High School's chief principal, Margaret Njeru, is yet to receive the investigative assessment report formally.

A visit to the school on Thursday afternoon confirmed she is still on duty and spent the day chairing meetings, a day after students resumed school from the April holiday.