NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 19 – Oppositions MPs have demanded the immediate release of monies owed to schools decrying that the government is sabotaging free education due to untimely disbursement.
Led by the National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi, they bashed Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu for being inconsistent in giving timelines when the capitation funds will be disbursed to schools.
On Monday, the Education Ministry assured that the government will disburse the outstanding capitation funds owed to public secondary schools across the nation, within the next 10 days.
“We are here to call out the government on the lies that have now crippled schools and exposed otherwise innocent principals and teachers to the wrath of parents and learners who buy into government lies,” Wandayi said.
The Azimio Lawmakers singled out the Sh52.8 billion owed to day primary and secondary schools which date back to 2021.
The National Assembly Minority Leader castigated the Kenya Kwanza Administration for compromising the education of learners through inadequate funding.
Wandayi linked the increasing failure rates in high school that has persisted for the last three years, in the KCSE examination in the recent past as having been occasioned by poor funding of learning institutions.
“The present state of affairs in our schools is a great shame to this nation. The net effect of all these happenings is that we will have incalculable ramifications on standards of education in Kenya and the future of Kenyan children,” he said.
The Ministry of Education has been slammed with setting up principals for failure by lying to parents and suppliers that monies have been disbursed.
The Ugunja MP pointed out that school unrest is imminent due to hunger as school administrators had run out of ideas to manage operations amidst the financial crisis.
“It is nothing short of a miracle that the schools are open and running. However, the miracle is short-lived since school administrators are running out of tricks to convince suppliers to keep supplying food items and learning materials to their schools,” Wandayi stated.
Kitui Central MP Makali Mulu regretted that President William Ruto’s administration has failed to prioritize the education sector with children’s future being used as collateral.
He questioned why the government has failed to give plausible reasons as to why funds that should have been disbursed earlier on in the term are only being disbursed towards the end of the term.
“Ten years or fifteen years to come we will start to face challenges as pertains what’s happening today in the education sector. Other sectors are getting their money on time,its just tells how much the government prioritizes education,”Mulu stated.
Capitation deficit
The Azimio La Umoja lawmakers pushed for a review of the current capitation which was arrived at in 2017 saying it must be adjusted upwards to take into account the rising inflation rate.
The Ministry of Education has decried resource constraints triggered by the increasing student population.
As of the end of January 2024, Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang noted the student population had risen by one million, posing a significant challenge to government funding.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee yesterday, Kipsang, announced the government will release the Sh16.25 billion to finance school operations.
“I held discussions with my colleague from the National Treasury, and shortly we are releasing up to 25 percent of the outstanding capitation amount owed to secondary schools nationwide. We aim to ensure that by the end of this quarter, we can disburse 50 percent,” stated Kipsang.
“We anticipate that the allocated amount will be deposited into respective accounts within the next 10 days,” he added.
Kipsang disclosed that the government has allocated Sh 65 billion for Free Secondary Education capitation, with 25 percent of this amount already released.
Secondary school heads across the country have been up in arms lamenting that some core activities in the school calendars are bound to be adversely affected by delays in the release of capitation funds by the government.
School management has been facing stiff challenges in paying suppliers which might adversely compromise the quality of education in the country with day secondary schools, which fully depend on capitation, bearing the biggest brunt.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) had recently warned that school programs may soon grind to a halt owing to delayed disbursement of Free Primary Education and Free Secondary Education funds for this year.
KNUT demanded the immediate disbursement of capitation funds to avert a crisis in learning institutions at a time when several school heads have decried the funding crisis which they say hampers smooth operations in the learning institutions.
