Can a Private School Raise Fees Without Asking Parents? What the High Court Just Ruled.
Kenya’s High Court has confirmed that private schools can increase tuition fees without needing government approval — but only if they follow the internal consultation process the law requires. The ruling, delivered on 24 September 2026, dismissed a petition by two parents at Oshwal Academy who challenged a six per cent fee increase for the 2026/2027 academic year.
If you’re a parent wondering whether your child’s private school can legally raise fees, or whether you have grounds to challenge an increase, this is the case to understand — along with what actually protects you under Kenyan law.
What the Court Decided
Justice David Mburu dismissed the petition, ordering each side to bear its own legal costs. The two parents had argued that Oshwal Academy’s fee increase was pushed through without meaningful consultation via a properly constituted Parents Association, as required under the Basic Education Act, 2013.
The school countered that the increase had been tabled and approved at its Annual General Meeting in May 2026, with parents and learners in attendance, and that it gave roughly three months’ notice before the new fees took effect. It attributed the increase to rising operating costs — staff salaries, learning resources, technology and facility maintenance.
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The court agreed with the school. In its judgment, it stated:
“The [school], being a private institution, retains autonomy and power to maintain standards in the course of studies, which confers it the authority to increase fees payable as long as procedure is followed.”
Importantly, the judge did not rule that private schools have unchecked power to raise fees. He found that Oshwal Academy had produced AGM minutes and other evidence showing the process it followed, while the petitioners had not proven that the increase was unlawful, irrational or procedurally unfair.
The court did confirm that the parents had legal standing to bring a constitutional challenge — it simply found the evidence didn’t support their claims in this instance.
Why This Case Matters Beyond Oshwal Academy
This ruling doesn’t create a blank cheque for private schools. It clarifies something narrower but still important: private schools have contractual and operational autonomy to set and revise fees, but that autonomy is conditional on following the procedure Kenyan law sets out — chiefly, functioning through a recognised Parents Association or Parents Teachers Association (PTA).
Section 55(3) of the Basic Education Act, 2013 requires every private school to establish a parents’ teachers association. Where a school can show that a fee increase went through this body — via a properly called meeting, adequate notice and genuine parental participation — courts are likely to treat that as sufficient procedure, even if individual parents disagree with the outcome.
Where a school cannot show this, the outcome could go the other way. That distinction is the real takeaway for parents.
Private Schools vs Public Schools: Different Rules Apply
One point of confusion in fee disputes is that private and public schools operate under entirely different fee regimes. Conflating the two leads to bad assumptions about your rights.
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| Private Schools | Public Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Who approves fee increases | The school’s own governance structures (Board, AGM), informed by its Parents Association | The Cabinet Secretary for Education must approve any charges above the government-set cap |
| Legal basis | Contractual relationship between school and parent; Basic Education Act requires a functioning PTA | Section 29(2)(b) of the Basic Education Act; fees are capped by government circular |
| Current fee ceiling | No government-imposed cap | Roughly KSh 53,554 per year for national boarding schools, KSh 40,535 for other boarding schools |
| What happens if the rules are broken | Parents can petition the High Court on procedural or constitutional grounds | Ministry of Education/TSC can discipline the principal and dissolve the Board of Management |
This distinction played out clearly in two other recent, related disputes:
Alliance Girls High School (public): Principal Margaret Njeru raised fees from about KSh 53,558 to KSh 120,179 — more than double the government-approved cap — without Cabinet Secretary approval. Education CS Julius Ogamba ordered the school’s Board of Management dissolved and recommended disciplinary action against the principal for breaching Section 29(2)(b) of the Basic Education Act. This was a public-school case governed by a fee ceiling; Oshwal Academy’s case was a private-school case governed by procedural fairness, not a fee cap.
Parklands Baptist School (private): Parents issued a demand letter in July 2026 challenging a 14.5 per cent fee increase, arguing the Board of Management was not properly constituted when it approved the new charges and that parents were not consulted. Unlike Oshwal Academy, the allegation here centres on a defective governance process — precisely the kind of procedural failure that, per this week’s ruling, could tip a court’s decision against a school.
The lesson: at a private school, your strongest legal argument isn’t “the increase is too high.” It’s “the school didn’t follow its own required consultation process.”
What Parents Can Actually Do
If your child’s private school announces a fee increase, these are the practical, legally grounded steps available to you:
- Check whether a Parents Association or PTA exists and is functioning. Every private school is legally required to have one. If yours doesn’t, or hasn’t held elections or meetings in years, that’s a genuine gap you can raise.
- Ask for the AGM minutes or resolution approving the increase. Schools that follow procedure, like Oshwal Academy did, can usually produce this documentation. Its absence strengthens a legal challenge; its presence weakens one.
- Confirm how much notice you were given. There’s no fixed statutory notice period for private schools, but courts have treated roughly three months as reasonable in this case. Very short notice periods are more vulnerable to challenge.
- Review your enrolment contract. Private school fees are governed partly by contract law. Check what the admission agreement says about fee revisions and notice requirements.
- Raise concerns collectively, not individually. Courts give weight to evidence that a Parents Association process broke down structurally, not just that one parent was personally dissatisfied.
- Escalate through the Parents Association first, then through legal demand letters, before heading to court — this mirrors what Parklands Baptist parents did and preserves your standing to show you attempted resolution.
- For public schools only, report unapproved fee hikes to the Ministry of Education or TSC directly, since the Cabinet Secretary’s approval — not a Parents Association vote — is the controlling requirement.
What This Ruling Does Not Do
- It does not cap private school fee increases at six per cent or any other figure.
- It does not exempt private schools from needing a functioning Parents Association.
- It does not apply to public schools, which remain bound by Ministry-approved fee ceilings.
- It does not prevent future petitions — it simply set the evidentiary bar: schools must show they followed procedure, and petitioners must prove they didn’t.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can a private school in Kenya raise fees whenever it wants?
No. It must follow its own governance procedures, including engaging its Parents Association or PTA, and cannot act arbitrarily. The High Court upheld this specific increase because the school demonstrated it followed proper process — not because private schools have unlimited discretion.
Is there a legal limit on how much a private school can increase fees by?
There is no statutory percentage cap for private schools, unlike public schools, which operate under a Ministry-approved fee ceiling.
What law governs private school Parents Associations?
Section 55(3) of the Basic Education Act, 2013 requires every private school to establish a parents’ teachers association.
What can I do if my private school raised fees without any parent consultation?
Document the lack of consultation, raise it formally through the Parents Association or a demand letter, and consider a constitutional petition to the High Court if the school cannot show it followed proper procedure — a route both the Oshwal Academy and Parklands Baptist parents took.
Does this ruling affect public school fees?
No. Public school fees are governed separately under Section 29(2)(b) of the Basic Education Act and require Cabinet Secretary approval, as illustrated by the disciplinary action taken against Alliance Girls High School’s principal for an unapproved increase.
Can a Private School Raise Fees Without Asking Parents? What the High Court Just Ruled.
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