Government to release Sh21b capitation to schools this week

Mabel Keya- Shikuku-KNA

The Government will release about Sh21billion as capitation to public schools this week.

Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Ogamba said this will help schools` heads to plan for the second term, which kicked off last week.

Speaking in Naivasha during the Naivasha Education Conference that brought together education officers and other stakeholders from around the country, Ogamba urged the officials to closely monitor the use of government funds sent to schools, to ensure that they are put into proper use.

 The CS noted that the capitation to schools is sometimes delayed because of competition for the limited resources and sometimes delay in release of the ex-chequer. About 30 per cent of the national budget is normally given to the education sector.

“Some of the government-funded programmes, as you already know, are extremely costly.

"As a result, we have on some occasions lagged in the disbursement of capitation funds to schools, owing to competition for resources by various government programmes,” he said.

The CS cautioned school heads against charging extra levies, adding that the ministry does not allow anybody to charge any levies that are not stipulated in policy.

He urged them to ensure no institutions charge illegal levies.

Ogamba directed education officers to move quickly and investigate cases of alleged malpractice in handling funds, noting that the Ministry has sometimes been accused of disbursing capitation funds to ghost schools, or learners in both primary and secondary schools.

“The Auditor General’s report alleges some school principals sometimes sneak in some levies into school fees, without following the laid down procedures. 

"These accusations, though not validated, must sound alarm bells to us to continuously examine our financial systems and procedures to ensure that there are no gaps that can bring us into conflict with the law,” he warned.

Under the Free Primary Education (FPE), the government allocates Sh1,420 per primary school learner annually and Sh15,042 per junior school student. For secondary education, the annual capitation is Sh22,244 per learner, although this was recently reduced to approximately Sh15,000 per year.

The capitation to schools is usually done in three phases of 50 per cent allocation in terms one, 30 per cent in term two and 20 per cent in term three. In March, schools received the remaining Sh14 billion in capitation funds for first term. 

There have, however, been concerns raised by school principals regarding the amount allocated, with some citing it inadequate and leading to financial difficulties. 

Some schools have reported discrepancies between the number of students on the roll and the number of students for whom capitation is disbursed, resulting in insufficient funding. 

A portion of the capitation is sometimes retained by the Ministry of Education for specific purposes, such as capacity building and co-curricular activities, further exacerbating financial challenges for schools. 

Ogamba, at the same time revealed that they have already successfully registered the candidates who will sit the first national assessment at Grade 9, ahead of their transition to Grade 10 of the Senior School.

He advised all education stakeholders to step up preparations for the Competency Based Education (CBE) system implementation in the Senior School next year.

“In the next three months, we expect you to oversee the selection exercise of Senior Schools for our Grade 9 candidates. Since this will be the premier class to be subjected to the selection process of Senior School options under the CBE, I urge you to be keen to address any teething problems that candidates may face,” the CS stated.