Govt disburses Ksh 21.5B free education funds

The Government has disbursed Ksh 21.5 billion towards the Free Primary and Free Secondary Education programmes in public primary and secondary schools.

According to the Ministry of Education, Ksh 15.2 billion will be spent towards Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) and will benefit 2,354,786 students in 8,041 public secondary schools.

KSh 6.6 billion will on the other hand benefit 8,933, 038 pupils in 21,745 public primary schools.

The money is meant to meet tuition and operations expenses the schools incur while providing education services to learners in basic education institutions.

“All the schools must acknowledge the funds received by issuing school official receipts for both tuition and operation accounts to the Principal Secretary for education with copies to their respective County and Sub county directors of education, according to a circular to all County Directors and sub-county directors of education,” said the Ministry of Education in a statement.

“These must be received within two weeks of receipt of the grants, failure to which further release of the grants to such schools will be suspended,” reads the circular, signed by the Director of Secondary and Tertiary Education, Mr. Robert Masese.

The circular further states that students’ should sign form lists showing the amount awarded and the list be attached to the payment vouchers kept in the school as per procedure and every student issues with a school receipt for the allocation.

The circular notes that the Principals are notified that the Ministry had made direct recoveries for Strengthening of Mathematics and Science in Secondary Education (SMASSE) from the capitation at the rate of Ksh 200 per student and channeled the same to the Centre for Mathematics, Science & Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA).

This comes after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday  reaffirmed his government’s commitment to ensuring primary and secondary school education is free in the country within the next five years.

Speaking during a Sunday service at Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls in Mathira, the Head of State said the Government would continue investing more resources in education to create equality among all Kenyans.

“My dream is to ensure that we get to a stage within the next five years where we have totally free education both at secondary and primary schools,” said the President. “No parent should dig into his or her pockets to educate children and we will achieve that objective soon.”