Schools left struggling as Gov’t releases less than 50% of capitation funds

Secondary school principals are warning of serious management challenges due to delayed disbursement of capitation funds.

They say only Ksh.4,000 per student has been released, far below the required Ksh.8,000 for this term. The Ministry of Education was expected to have disbursed Ksh.28 billion by this time, representing 50% of total capitation funds.

A month after the school term began, only Ksh.14 billion has been made available, with school principals raising concerns about system failures, with some students not properly captured, leading to reduced disbursements for certain institutions.

One principal, who spoke to Citizen TV on condition of anonymity revealed that they received only Ksh.2.6 million instead of an expected Ksh.10 million for the first 50% disbursement of the term.

The principal expressed concern about how schools are expected to run effectively with such a limited amount of money.

“The capitation that the government is supposed to give to our learners that is Ksh.22,224 per child per year has not been forthcoming for very many years, the government owes the schools in millions if not billions,” he said.

KUPPET Deputy Secretary General Moses Nthurima said: “We have been asking principals to determine the percentage that has been released but they haven’t been able to because the ministry sprinkled money into the schools account and said they have paid so we are looking for bearing on how to cost what they have paid because we expected 50%, it is not even 10%”

According to the ministry, they have released Ksh.14 billion, which accounts for about 20-25% of the expected amount. However, schools were anticipating 50% for this term, amounting to Ksh.28 billion.

Secondary school heads say the persistent delays and in many instances the release of less money without proper explanation of where the balance goes has seriously affected the normal running of schools.

“Including last year, the government just sent a paltry about Ksh.13,000 to schools,  the rest we don’t know where it goes and nobody seems to be asking questions anymore in this country, everybody is terrified…I want to put it clear to wananchi that the running of the schools in this country has reached a critical stage and every parent must start taking care of their children in school,” added the principal who spoke on condition of anonymity.

KNUT Executive Secretary Nyamira branch Evans Obiri noted: “Capitation to schools, hakuna pesa huko mtu anatoa 10% anasema ametuma pesa…10% itanunua chokaa ama itanunua nini?”

School heads have also raised concerns about what they describe as doctored Form Three numbers, where the data at the Ministry of Education reflects fewer students than are actually enrolled in some schools.

This discrepancy has led to financial strain, as the ministry is releasing less money than needed to accommodate the actual student populations.

“Schools are running into millions in terms of pending bills and principals are simply running out of schools whenever you see a creditor come in. Principals are no longer staying in their offices because there is no money in schools, let the country know there is no money in schools, let the public know that the government is no longer funding education in schools, it is a dire situation,” added the principal.

As the ministry awaits Treasury to release the remaining amount for this term, public secondary schools in the country stare at a crisis where some are forced to overburden parents to ensure day to day running of the school.