Parents advised to report school principals charging illegal fees during Form One admissions.

A file photo of students being admitted to Form One previously.

Education CS Amina Mohamed has warned principals found charging illegal levies to students joining Form One next year that they will be dealt with decisively.

The CS advised parents to only pay the amount in the fees structure and report incidents of any students turned away for not paying higher fees to their respective regional education coordinators, county directors of education for action.

She reassured parents and guardians who have reported such cases that the ministry is taking the relevant action against the affected schools saying victimisation of learners, parents and guardians who engage the ministry as a result of illegal levies by schools will not be tolerated.

Amina said charging illegal levies will be treated as a crime of corruption and measures taken against the culprits.

She said cases of lethargy with this vice on the part of education officials will also be dealt with decisively.

And as far as Free Day Secondary Education is concerned, Amina said all learners in public day schools receive Sh. 22,244 yearly.

She also said all Form One entrants next year will also be supplied with new core text books akin to the 2018 class.

Students reporting to public secondary schools in January 2019 will be the second group to benefit from the National Hospital Insurance Fund cover that commenced in May this year.

The Ministry of Education has already released the list of candidates who were shortlisted to join Form One in national schools in 2019.

Candidates who scored more than 400 marks all got admission as more were selected compared to last year.

The ministry has set up a way candidates can check what schools they have been admitted to by sending an SMS to 22384.

The format for the message should be formatted as follows: LNK#Indexnumber. For example, LNK#0471247885.

The service is available for all mobile phone carriers an also attracts a charge of Kshs 25.

Admission to Extra County and County schools will be released on December 5 and will also be available through the same method.

For those with an internet connection, the selection can be accessed on the ministry’s website education.go.ke.

Data from the ministry shows that the available spaces in the 103 national schools stood at 29,712.

In 2018, 12,273 candidates scored 401 marks and above and, therefore, guaranteed slots at some of the prestigious schools.