Kenya’s public secondary school principals are caught between a rock and a hard place, with the country’s post-primary institutions currently grumbling with capitation challenges, threatening to down tools if their grievances are not urgently addressed.
The principals, through their umbrella body, the Kenya Secondary School Heads’ Association (KESSHA), state that the partial and delayed disbursement of capitation funds, coupled with the rising costs of goods and services, has placed an immense strain on the management and sustainability of schools.
This is in addition to inadequate fees charged to students, which fail to synchronize with the current economic realities and have exacerbated the financial challenges, warning that unless the situation is urgently tackled by relevant authorities, secondary schools in Kenya are at the brink of imminent closure, which will negatively impact the future of many students.
In an 18-page strongly worded report titled Operational Crisis in Schools, signed by the Association’s National Chairman Willie M. Kuria, the principals have outlined in detail the challenges that require critical intervention and consideration for the schools operations to remain afloat.
Inflation and reduced capitation
According to the principals, the government’s capitation released to schools has been affected by the inflation rate of commodity prices and has become difficult to run schools since the government, through the Ministry of Education, has never considered reviewing the capitation sent to schools.
In the report, the school bosses note that in 2008, the rate per learner was Ksh10,625, which was increased to Ksh12,870 in 2015 and then to Ksh22,244 in 2018, which has remained stagnant to date.
“The current capitation of Ksh.22,244 per learner was last reviewed seven years ago, and it is therefore incongruent with the prevailing economic realities. It is apparent that the cost of common goods and services has drastically gone up while the capitation has remained constant,” said Kuria in the report, who is also the Principal of Murang’a High.
They note that a cursory look at the cost of goods ubiquitous in schools reveals that inflation has gone up by between 41 per cent cent to 47 per cent since 2015, adding that their comparison between the US dollar against the Kenyan shilling from 2015 to 2025 reveals that the dollar has appreciated at the rate of 41 per cent against the shilling since 2015.
Apart from the inflation rate, the Principals note that the same capitation has decreased. As per the report, the money that was being given to schools 17 years ago in 2008 (Ksh10,625) when the programme started is more than what schools receive today 2024 (Ksh10,479.37) after retentions and partial disbursement.
The Principal observes that for the last four financial years’ (FYs), from 2020/2021 to 2023/2024, the average amount available for school operations is Ksh10,490.28, tabulated as follows: In 2020/2021, the total capitation to pupils disbursed was Ksh 17,243.85. What was retained by the Ministry of Education (MoE) was Ksh 1,546.55, with the school receiving Ksh 15,697.30, where Ksh 5,000 was allocated to infrastructure, which left the school with Ksh 10,697.30 for operations.
In 2021/2022, the total capitation to pupils was Ksh 17,792.20; MoE that period retained Ksh 1,752.90, making schools receive Ksh 16,039.30, where only Ksh 11,039.30 remained for school operations after removing Ksh 5,000 for infrastructure per student, while in the 2022/2023 period only Ksh 9,701.50 remained for school operations.
The total capitation to pupils that time was Ksh17, 339.00, with the MoE retaining Ksh2,637.50 at the headquarters, making schools receive Ksh14,701.50, which they were also expected to remove in infrastructure funds of Ksh5,000.
In the 2023/2024 FY, a total of Ksh 16,153.05 was disbursed to schools per pupil, and along the way, the MoE retained Ksh 1,730 at headquarters in Jogoo House, with schools receiving Ksh 14,423.05 per child, where Ksh 3,900 per child was deducted for infrastructure, leaving schools to spend Ksh 10,523.05 for operations.
The amount retained by MoE included that for teaching and learning materials (textbooks), Medical (NHIF Eduafya), Co-curricular Activities, and SMASSE, that is, Strengthening of Mathematics and Science in Secondary Education.
Students Denial of Capitation
At the same time, the Principals have observed that there are so many students who are not funded at all from the exchequer, and therefore schools are owed a lot of money. Furthermore, they cited lack of birth certificates and issues arising from birth certificate numbers by some students as the main cause of fund denial, since they are not National Education Management Information System (NEMIS).
“Not all students in our public secondary schools are captured on NEMIS, owing to birth certificate issues. Enrollment increases in January, and budgetary allocations are done based on November/December of the previous year,” said Kuria.
“This makes it difficult for the budgets to incorporate increased enrollment. The net effect is that the GOK subsidy for Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) is always lower than the actual enrollment, and hence the actual capitation is lower than the expected Ksh 22,244. The approved/budgeted capitation is not released in totality, leading to significant deficits as a result of some students not being funded,” he added.
Partial, delayed disbursement
The principals assert that schools do not receive full disbursement of Ksh22,244. Citing a case study of the 2022/2023 FY, the school heads note that the government remained with a total of Ksh18,101,294,280 cumulatively, translating to Ksh4,905 per child since the total amount that was disbursed to school per child in that period was Ksh17,339.00 (77.95 percent).
The Principals through the association have given a track on how the disbursement per child of funds within that period, which showed that on July 27, 2022, a total of Ksh 4,289.24 per student was released; on October 5, 2022, a total of Ksh 4,485.49 per child was disbursed; on January 26, 2023, Ksh 4,413.92 was released; and on June 14, 2023, Ksh 4,150.35 was disbursed to schools.
Despite the amount disbursed being small, the Principals have decried the period it takes to be disbursed to schools, noting that the delayed disbursement of the Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) funds compromises the proper planning and running of school programmes.
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They note that late disbursement makes it immensely difficult for schools to execute the school budget, which in turn compromises the learning process in schools. They also raised concern over many retentions and recoveries at the Ministry. The money that eventually gets to the learner is far less than the stipulated grant of Ksh.22,244 per learner, which, as per the KESSHA report, is currently Ksh.10,479.37.
Concerns over Activity Fund
According to KESSHA, schools have been supporting schools’ activities by pooling resources together in collaboration with their respective education officer from the school level up to the regional level.
Funding shortages have led to circumstances where schools have to contribute towards co-curricular activities at various levels, that is, Sub-county, County, and regional levels, which has led to cuts in co-curricular programs, limiting students’ opportunities for personal growth.
The Association is now worried that money is deducted and retained at the MoE headquarters but doesn’t reach the school level where students require it to support their sporting activities, forcing them to abandon some sporting activities, thus compromising the much-touted CBC arts and sports pathways development.
They noted that the lack of sports is a great contributor to the recent surge in incidences of indiscipline witnessed in schools.
By Roy Hezron.
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