Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) National Treasurer Amos Cherono, who is Principal Kapcherop Boys in Elgeyo Marakwet, has confirmed that schools have started receiving capitation for second term.
Speaking to Education News, Cherono revealed that schools with bank accounts in National and Equity banks have already received the money, estimating that those with other banks will have it by tomorrow.
However, he did not reveal the exact amounts credited, saying he is waiting for the circular from the Ministry of Education (MoE).
However, several school heads who confirmed receiving the cash expressed their frustrations over what they termed as inadequate funds.
They revealed that they have received only Ksh4156 per learner, Ksh3404 for operations and Ksh750 for tuition. It is short of Ksh5,000 that is expected for every learner this term.
They, too, said they are awaiting the circular from the ministry to direct them further as they worry the amount received is too little as they also need to pay suppliers.
There has been a lot of controversy in the disbursement after the government allocated Ksh65 billion for Free Secondary Education in the current financial year, meaning that a student’s quota is Ksh17,000 down from Ksh22,224.
Basic Education Principal Secretary (PS) Belio Kipsang early this year, while appearing before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, lamented that the cut capitation was contrasting the increasing enrollment each year.
“We need to increase the blocked figure of around Ksh65 billion because when it was capped at Ksh65 billion, our secondary school student population was 3.2 million; but as of January 2024, we have 4.2 million students in our secondary school. But the amount that’s continued to be given is between Ksh64 billion and Ksh65 billion,” he said.
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