A Kenyan private school can increase its fees, but a recent High Court ruling shows why the process it follows matters; and why parents challenging an increase need evidence of what went wrong.
Two parents asked the court to stop a six per cent fee increase at Oshwal Academy for the 2026/27 academic year. They argued that the decision had been made without meaningful involvement of a properly constituted Parents Association and would place a greater financial burden on families.
Justice David Mburu dismissed their petition on September 18. The judge found that Oshwal had presented evidence of the process leading to the increase, while the parents had not proved illegality, irrationality or procedural impropriety.
The ruling does not give every private school permission to raise fees however it wishes. It turns on the evidence presented in this particular dispute.
What did the parents object to?
The parents’ case was about more than the size of the increase. They argued that the Basic Education Act requires private schools to establish a Parents Association and that an annual general meeting could not simply take the place of the association’s continuing role.
They also said the increase threatened learners’ access to education and challenged whether parents had been given a fair opportunity to participate in the decision. Oshwal disputed those claims. It said parents had received notice, the increase had been considered at an AGM in May, and rising operating costs and investment in school services justified the revised fees. sheriahub.com
The school produced AGM minutes and other material in court. It said it had notified parents on May 29, 2026, roughly three months before the revised fees were due to take effect. The judge found that the school had demonstrated the process it followed and that the petitioners had not supplied proof sufficient to overturn its decision.
Does a Parents Association have to approve every fee increase?
This judgment should not be read as establishing a simple yes-or-no rule for every school. The parents said the association had been bypassed; Oshwal maintained that a Parents Association existed and disputed the claim that it had power to approve or veto fees.
The judge upheld this increase because of the evidence of the approval process and the failure to prove the alleged procedural defects. Parents at another school would need to examine that school’s own governance arrangements, fee agreement, notices and records of consultation.
What can parents do if they dispute new fees?
The practical lesson is to ask for the documents behind the decision: the school’s fee terms, the notice explaining the increase, relevant meeting minutes and the records showing how parents were involved. Parents who say an increase breaches the school’s agreement or was imposed through an improper process need evidence of that breach.
Justice Mburu also rejected the argument that the six per cent rise, by itself, proved a violation of the children’s constitutional right to education. He treated the relationship between parents and a private school as one governed by their agreement, while considering—and ultimately rejecting—the specific constitutional claims brought in this case.
The court upheld Oshwal’s increase; it did not set a national six per cent limit or make that percentage automatically lawful elsewhere.
