Schools to wait longer for free education fees Capitation

School heads will have to find a way to keep learners in their institutions without money after it emerged that the government will release capitation money by the end of January.

Learners in both primary and secondary schools started reporting for the first term of the 2025 academic year on Monday and Tuesday.

Over the weekend, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba announced that the state would release 50 per cent of the capitation money as schools reopened.

He said the ministry was working with the National Treasury to expedite school disbursement to avert a financial crisis.

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has said the government is mobilising resources and that it is working with the Education Ministry to avail the funds by the end month.

“We are working closely with the Ministry of Education to ensure money is released to schools on time and ensure smooth learning,” Mbadi said.

The CS said he was aware of concerns raised by schools on the timely release of funds but urged them to bear with the government for a short while.

Mbadi explained that the government usually suffers from a slow pace of revenue collection in January and February.

He said the release of capitation money to schools is among the payments that the National Treasury has prioritised.

“Our priority this year is to pay back the loans, release capitation to school, pay salaries and release the December allocation to county governments,” Mbadi said.

The CS called on patience from schools as the National Treasury Works had to avail the money by January 31.

“Let schools not act like there is an emergency, learning can still go on even if we have not released the funds,” Mbadi said.

“I can, however, assure than that salaries of all school workers are available.”

Mbadi said the National Treasury is working to ensure the whole amount in the first tranche is released to schools by the end of the month.

He, however, cautioned that in case the whole amount is not realised, at least half of the Sh48 billion will be available.

CS Ogamba had over the weekend assured schools that the first tranche of the capitation money- Sh48.38 billion- would be released to schools as they opened.

Out of the amount, Sh4.1 billion has been allocated for all public primary schools while Sh15.3 billion is meant for Day Junior Secondary Schools.

A total of Sh28.9 Billion is earmarked for Day Secondary schools ahead of the beginning of the 2025 academic year.