- Schools need timely Ministry circulars alongside capitation to guide expenditure and strengthen accountability.
- Primary and Junior School allocations must be distributed across numerous prescribed expenditure areas.
- Hillary Muhalya argues that predictable funding and clear instructions should reach school managers together.
The Government’s Term Three 2026 capitation disbursement has once again placed school financing at the centre of the education debate, with public primary schools and Junior Secondary Schools receiving different allocations based on their respective funding frameworks.
But beyond the actual amounts reaching school accounts lies another issue that is equally important: the timely release of official Ministry circulars detailing exactly how the money should be used.
For headteachers, principals, Boards of Management and education officials, the circular is not merely an administrative document. It is the financial roadmap that determines how public funds should be planned for, spent and accounted for.
Schools cannot responsibly manage Government money on the basis of rumours, verbal instructions, previous-term figures or assumptions.
They need clear, official and timely guidance.
Under the Term Three 2026 Free Primary Education disbursement, public primary schools are receiving Sh259.70 per learner.
The amount is divided between two broad accounts.
Account One receives Sh133.70 per learner, covering textbooks and supplementary readers, textbook maintenance, exercise books, teachers’ guides and reference materials, and stationery.
Account Two receives Sh126 per learner, covering support staff wages, renovation and maintenance, activities, local transport and travelling, electricity, water and conservancy, telephone and postage, environmental sanitation, capacity building and BOM meetings, contingencies, science and applied technology, and assessments and examinations.
The figures demonstrate how tightly stretched school finances can become once the allocation is divided among the numerous needs attached to each vote head.
A primary school with 100 learners would receive approximately Sh25,970.
A school with 300 learners would receive about Sh77,910.
For a school with 500 learners, the allocation would be approximately Sh129,850, while a school with 1,000 learners would receive about Sh259,700.
These amounts, however, should not be interpreted as unrestricted cash because the allocation is tied to specific expenditure areas.
JSS: Sh1,501.64 per learner plus basic allocation
Junior Secondary Schools are receiving a considerably larger learner-based Term Three allocation.
The latest FDJSE figures put the learner allocation at Sh1,501.64, with an additional Sh38,216.97 basic allocation per school.
The learner-based funding covers areas including repairs, maintenance and improvement, co-curricular activities, local transport and travelling, administration, medical and insurance expenses, stationery, practical materials under Competency-Based Education (CBE), laboratory materials, assessment, centrally procured textbooks and supplementary readers, and SMASSE capacity building.
The combined figures vary according to enrolment.
A JSS with 100 learners would receive approximately Sh188,380.97, including the basic allocation.
A school with 300 learners would receive about Sh488,708.97.
A JSS with 500 learners would receive approximately Sh789,036.97.
With 1,000 learners, the combined allocation rises to about Sh1.54 million, while a JSS with 2,000 learners would receive approximately Sh3.04 million.
But even here, the headline figure does not represent unrestricted money.
The allocation is spread across specified vote heads, requiring school administrators to follow the Government’s financial guidelines.
Senior Schools: Annual rate should not be confused with Term Three release
The Senior School position requires particular caution.
The established annual FDSE capitation rate is Sh22,244 per learner. This annual figure remains official government policy in 2026 and was reaffirmed by the Ministry in January.
However, this should not automatically be interpreted to mean that every Senior School is receiving Sh4,448.80 per learner in Term Three simply because 20 per cent of the annual figure produces that amount.
The Government has traditionally used a 50:30:20 framework for termly capitation releases, but the actual amount released in a particular term should be established from the specific Ministry circular governing that disbursement.
This distinction matters.
An annual allocation is not necessarily the same thing as the actual cash released in a particular term.
Schools and education stakeholders should therefore rely on the official Term Three 2026 Senior School circular before publishing or budgeting around a specific figure.
Why timely circulars matter
While the amount of capitation matters, the timing of the circular is equally important.
A school head needs to know not only that money has been released, but also precisely how much has been released, under which vote heads, what each allocation is intended to finance and what accounting requirements apply.
This information is essential for proper budgeting.
When a circular arrives late, school administrators may be forced to operate without sufficient clarity. They may know that funds are expected or have already reached the institution, but remain uncertain about the precise expenditure framework.
That can create unnecessary confusion and expose administrators to avoidable financial risks.
A headteacher cannot responsibly move money from one vote head to another simply because an urgent need has emerged. Public funds must be spent within the applicable Government guidelines and properly accounted for.
This is why the timely release of circulars should be treated as part of the capitation disbursement process itself — not as an administrative afterthought.
Money and instructions should move together
The Ministry of Education should strive to ensure that schools receive both the money and the corresponding instructions within a reasonable timeframe.
The two are inseparable.
If funds arrive before the guidelines, school managers may face uncertainty.
If guidelines arrive after schools have already made financial commitments, administrators may find themselves struggling to reconcile expenditure decisions with the eventual instructions.
A timely circular therefore protects everyone.
It protects the Government by strengthening accountability.
It protects school heads and principals by providing an official basis for expenditure decisions.
It protects Boards of Management by giving them a clear framework for oversight.
And ultimately, it protects learners, who are the intended beneficiaries of the funding.
The headteacher’s financial dilemma
The situation facing school managers is increasingly complex.
A leaking classroom roof cannot always wait.
Sanitation facilities require maintenance.
Learners need exercise books and other learning materials.
Assessment activities must be supported.
Electricity and water bills must be settled.
Co-curricular activities must continue.
Support staff also need to be paid.
Yet the money available to a school is divided among specific vote heads and may not be freely redirected to address every emerging emergency.
This makes timely financial guidance even more important.
A headteacher should not have to choose between acting immediately to address an urgent school need and waiting for clarification on whether a particular vote head permits the expenditure.
The bigger question: Is capitation keeping pace?
The latest Term Three figures have also revived the wider conversation about whether school capitation is sufficient to meet the real cost of education.
The question is no longer simply about how much Government says it allocates per learner.
It is about how much actually reaches the institution, when it arrives, how it is divided and whether the allocation reflects the realities of running a modern public school.
A primary school with 500 learners receiving approximately Sh129,850 may appear to have received a substantial amount when viewed as a single figure.
But once the money is distributed across exercise books, stationery, maintenance, support staff wages, sanitation, water, assessments and other approved areas, the pressure becomes obvious.
The same applies to JSS, where a seemingly large overall figure must cover a wide range of competing institutional needs.
The message from schools is simple
The education sector does not only need more capitation.
It needs predictable disbursement, timely circulars, clear vote-head allocations and consistent financial guidelines.
Schools need to know what is coming before they make major financial decisions.
Parents need transparency.
BOMs need accountability.
Teachers need properly resourced institutions.
And school heads need clear Government instructions to manage public resources without unnecessary uncertainty.
As the country continues to reform education financing, success should therefore be measured not only by the amount allocated in the national budget, but also by how promptly, predictably and transparently that money — and the instructions governing it — reach schools.
Money should not arrive first with instructions coming later.
For every headteacher and principal, a timely Ministry circular is a financial roadmap.
It tells the institution what has been released, what it can be spent on and how it must ultimately be accounted for.
That clarity is not a luxury.
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It is fundamental to sound school management and the protection of public funds.
By Hillary Muhalya
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