Secondary schools started receiving Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) capitation funds into their accounts yesterday, September 21, 2023.
Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) National Treasurer Amos Cherono confirmed that the funds have reached schools but wondered how they would operate with the Ksh2,500 per student that was disbursed by the Ministry of Education (MoE).
He said that out of these funds, Ksh500 would go for tuition while Ksh2,000 would cover operations for the whole term, stating that this is a drop in the ocean considering the number of pending bills to be paid.
Speaking to Education News, Cherono said that schools were expecting at least Ksh5,000 from the government to operate optimally but were shocked to receive the paltry amount.
The KESSHA official indicated that schools would have a hard time dealing with suppliers who have not been paid since the beginning of the year due to low funding from the government.
He also expressed fears that institutions would face legal action from some of the suppliers who feel they have not been treated fairly.
Cherono said that schools may be forced to ask parents to chip in in the running of school affairs, especially buying exercise books for their children.
According to recent reports, schools owe suppliers well above Ksh29 billion in pending bills and some Principals are reported to be playing hide and seek in their institutions to avoid confrontation with the angry service providers.
On September 15, Basic Education Principal Secretary (PS) Dr. Belio Kipsang stated that the Ministry received Ksh16 billion (16,249,982,722.2) from the National Treasury for disbursement to public primary, junior and senior schools; which he said would be wired to respective school accounts by September 20.
Of this capitation, JSSs will receive Ksh1.7 billion (1,758,082,749), primary schools will get Ksh1.5 billion (1,562,842,596.88) under Free Primary Education (FPE) while secondary schools will get Ksh12.9 billion (12,929,057,376.40) under FDSE capitation.
By Our Reporter
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