Where to get school fees
The financial implications of school fees can often be a matter of stress and worry for many parents.
Advisors will generally recommend that you start saving for your child’s education immediately they are born, giving you maximum time to grow an investment portfolio. The cost of quality education has risen along with the cost of living, yet a good education is necessary to ensure a fruitful life for your child.
To avoid difficult financial times when investing in your children educationally, you have to plan ahead, taking the points below into consideration.
Regular savings
Regular savings for school fees will mean you have money to start the child off in a good school. One way to go, which is sensible but requires discipline, is to open a dedicated school fees account. The longer you save, the less strain there will be on your income when the school fees is due.
Education policies
Insurance policies are gaining momentum in Kenya. However, only a very small number of Kenyans have insurance let alone education policies. It is advisable to approach a reputable insurance firm and get get an education policy. In as much as the education policies are involved, basics include payment of an agreed upon monthly premium with a lump sum which should be available on maturity. This could be 10, 15 or whatever number of years agreed upon.It is assumed that high school and college are the most expensive legs of education. Education policies are often timed to mature at about this time.
The terms may also vary depending on the age of the child meaning, the earlier you start, the less the premium amount you will have to put in before it matures. This kind of arrangement eliminates the need for a fund raiser when the child is leaving for college
Scholarships, bursaries and financial aid
Scholarships are offered by schools to children who qualify by, for example, competitive examination and are normally based on some form of merit mainly academic and sport.
Financial help from schools not based on a competitive exam or offered to destitute children is known as bursary. Encouraging your children to work hard academically in order to gain a scholarship will go a long way in saving you the burden of school fees.
Organisations like the Ark Foundation of Africa have in their focus the establishment of multipurpose education centres that provide free education and other services targeting very low income families. Consider such, if need be.
Government sponsored education
When the Kenyan government announced it would stop charging fees for primary school education, there was excitement. School heads, teachers and parents all rushed to find desks and stationery for the flood of children joining primary schools at the beginning of 2003. The number that enrolled into primary schools that year was estimated at 1.3 million. However despite the challenges, this was seen as a giant step for Kenya towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals as adopted by world leaders in New York in September of 2000.
The second Millennium Development Goal requires countries to provide a complete primary level education for all children by 2015, reduce adult illiteracy and achieve gender parity at all levels of education not later than 2015.
Not only has this (free primary education) been a giant leap n the future of Kenyan education, it has also served to remove some of the budgetary constraints faced by parents in the form of school fees.
Do not wait until your child reaches school going age to start thinking about school fees. Avoid the headaches that come along with it and start early enough. Heed the adage that says; to fail to plan is to plan to fail.
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