The Free Education Policy that has been put in place this year by the Government has caused a lot of issues for schools including Utmei Secondary School. Though it has been an advantage for students and parents in terms of paying lesser school fees, schools have been affected by the policy in terms of the school running on a daily basis. According to Principal, Mr. Bernard Manau, the school has seen an increase in enrollment of students this year, compared to last year. He said that in the previous year, a residential student paid an amount of K1,900 whilst a non- residential student paid K1,300. Since the implementation of the policy, a residential student now pays a sum of K380 while a non- residential student has paid K260. He said that as a result of this, enrolment for this year has increased. For this year, the number of students has increased bringing the total up to 838 students, whereas last year the school had only 751 students. “The number of students in a class and in the dormitories has increased causing overcrowding of students. Last year a grade 9 classroom alone had 48 students whereas for this year, has gone up to 56 students.” “For boarding students, the total number of students stood at 450 last year, compared to this year where it has gone up to 530 students in total. As a result of this, we had to increase our dining hall by putting in more tables and hiring another extra cook to help prepare the meals.” Manau said that an appeal has been made to the Gazelle District to help assist with more funds but is still awaiting a response. Thankfully, the Government has assisted the school for the first term alone with K219, 000. Manau says he hopes that the fund given may just be enough to bring them through the first term considering the fact that necessities need to be paid such as food, electricity, power and other additional costs as well such as maintenance. “The Government has also assisted at the beginning of the year with the remaining from last year’s share worth K186, 000. This amount has however, has been used to pay the outstanding costs and fees for last year.” Manau has also commended the parents of the students for their continuous support who are still very much helping in terms of project fees. He said that though the policy has been put in place, parents still assist wherever they can.