Heads of public secondary schools in Kericho county have hinted at closing schools earlier due to lack of funds to run the institutions.
They observed that the schools are currently struggling, with some being unable to pay their staff and suppliers.
Robert Korir of Ainamoi Secondary school, raised concerns over the reduction of capitation to Ksh11,342 up from the initial Ksh22,224.
“Initially the capitation was Ksh22,224 and that was sufficient to run the institutions for the all year. Currently, the same amount is used to do infrastructure, pay bills and the recurrent expenditure,” he said.
Addressing the press in Kericho town, he noted that schools rely on capitation to develop infrastructure, pay water and electricity bills among other expenses.
“In some schools, workers are forced to wait until January so as to get salaries. This is because funds have been channeled to infrastructure. We are unable to support the academic programme because the tuition account supports the programmes in most cases,” he observed.
According to him, school games and other co-curricular activities have also been interrupted due to insufficient funds, which he says is worrying.
“Some of our suppliers have not been paid. If the Ksh22,224 can be restored and CDF to take over infrastructure, the money can be sufficient to run the institutions for the all year. The day schools we can say are not in the position to pay the salaries, remitting the statutory bodies like SHA, and this can lead to penalization,” Korir observed.
By Kimutai Lang’at
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
>>> Click here to read more informed opinions on the country’s education landscape
