Aluor Girls Asks Students to Carry Own Sugar to Supplement What's Offered: "Cost of Living Has Skyrocketed"

• St Cecilia Aluor Girls' High School asked pupils to report to school with sugar when the third term commences at the end of August
• The principal Vicky Onyango cited the rising cost of living as the basis for her latest directive, adding that it would supplement what the school gives them
• Onyango put the parents and guardians on the spot for failing to complete school fees on time, affecting the school's planning

Siaya - Public institutions have had to adjust their budgets across the country as the cash crunch continues to bite.

Kenyans have resorted to adopting challenging but cheaper options to take them through the harsh conditions.

Some low-income families have turned to jaggery, commonly referred to as sukari nguru, to sweeten their tea.

Why will Aluor students carry sugar

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St Cecilia Aluor Girls' High School, a mission school in Siaya, has asked its student to report to school with their sugar.

In a newsletter attached alongside the students' report forms, the school principal Vicky Onyango said the cost of living had risen exponentially.

She explained that the parents had made the situation untenable by not paying the school fees on time.

Onyango asked the students to carry their sugar to supplement what they would be given in school.

"The cost of living has skyrocketed, and it is affecting even you at home. The situation is made worse in school when parents don't pay fees promptly. Kindly do us that favour so as to enable us give your daughter the basics. We allow fruits, milk and bread to be brought into school, Due to economic hard times, we are now allowing students to carry Sugar to school to supplement what they are given," read the newsletter in part.

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What is Ruto's take on sugar prices

On Wednesday, August 2, President William Ruto acknowledged the cost of sugar had skyrocketed since he took the oath of office.

Ruto attributed the high prices of the commodity to a shortage of cane in the local and COMESA markets.

He explained that his administration was streamlining the sugarcane sector, which has been riddled with confusion and mismanagement for years.

"We have had confusion and chaos in the whole sugar subsector. The reason why many companies have closed shop temporarily is because there is no cane to harvest.

We have been reluctant to import sugar to avoid working against our farmers, but now, in the next two weeks, you will see a difference as we have ordered imports from outside the COMESA market," Ruto said.

Sugar prices in Kenya

A spot check by TUKO.co.ke showed a 2kg packet of sugar retailed between KSh 450 to KSh 510 across supermarkets and small retail shops.

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A kilo pack of sugar goes between KSh 235 to KSh 260, and this is expected to rise further due to limited supply to satisfy the over 180,000 tonnes of sugar demand in the country.

Kenyans are staring at a further increase in sugar prices after the government introduced excise duty on imports and temporarily shut down local production.

Source: TUKO.co.ke