Principals want Treasury forced to release billions in Free Education subsidy balance

The status of absolute Free Secondary School Education is in limbo following revelations by the Ministry of Education that they are facing underfunding and can only disburse 68 percent of capitation per learner.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu disclosed before the National Assembly Committee on Education that they are currently facing a shortfall of Sh22 billion which has a ripple effect on school funding.

The government allocates sh22, 244 per learner annually, under the free day secondary school program but the allocation disbursed by the Ministry of Education is Sh16,400 per learner.

“We are facing a budget shortfall of Sh 22 billion in the capitation of the Free Secondary school education. Education is still free because parents are only obligated to buy school uniforms and cater for meals in some situations,” Machogu said.

Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang explained that the capitation shortfall will continue to persist saying they cannot afford to disburse 100 capitations due to funding gap attributed to fiscal challenges.

“We have 4 million students in our secondary schools today. So what we require is 88 billion shillings. This year, we have received Sh65 billion. So there is a problem, a problem that must be sorted out,” Kipsang said.

“The solution is that we must deal with the funding question, but we also have to appreciate that we are facing a fiscal challenge in the country,” he added.

Following revelations by the Ministry of Education, parents may be forced to deeper in their pockets to fill the deficit gap as the running of operations in learning institutions has been stifled.

“So while we are dealing with all this, I think we must be able to look at it and say maybe progressively we should be reducing the funding gap. So that within a certain period of time, maybe in the medium term, then we should have been able to close the funding gap that is there. But that is where the problem is,” Kipsang stated.

The Basic Education Principal Secretary decried that co-curricular activities have been underfunded with the Ministry of Education retaining the Sh30 capitation per learner from the Sh70 allocation for the activities.

PS Kipsang, however, noted that the Ministry of Education has been working in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports, Arts, and Culture to fund schools co-curricular activities through the Sports Fund.

“We have started engaging ourselves with our colleagues in Ministry of Sports, and we are adequately budgeting for the running of co curricular activities in this new school year from January,” he said.

With the government facing a cash crisis school principals have warned that they will increase school fees and drop some school activities due to financial constraints.

School management have complained about the high prices of foodstuffs and failure by the government to remit capitation money in full, and in good time.

MPs accused the Ministry of Education officials of holding principals to ransom over capitation due to inconsistencies in capitation that has put them on a collision course with parents.

They argued that excessive school charges have stopped many learners from humble backgrounds from accessing education, which is a constitutional right.

“The issue of capitation is a problem,why do you issue a circular that you are giving Sh 22000 yet you are giving 16,400.Why do you just tell school management that the disbursement is Sh 16,400? ”posed the Tinderet Chair Julius Melly.

“There is no criminality in this place. Would you rather that they close the schools and the children stay at home because if you have not given them the money to run the school, they have to get money from these levies,” said Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera.