Head teachers want Sh8,000 per pupil

The Ministry of Education is in talks with the National Treasury over capitation for primary and secondary schools.

Dr Belio Kipsang, the Principal Secretary of Education, said the ministry is pushing to increase the budget for free education from the current Sh13.4 billion to Sh40 billion.

He said the ministry was optimistic that the funds would be released before re-opening of schools in January, next year.

Dr Kipsang, who was addressing primary school head teachers in Mombasa, said the capitation had not been reviewed in the last 16 years.

“We agree with teachers that the capitation ought to be increased and that is why I’m in talks with my colleague in the National Treasury to solve the problem,” said the PS.

Head teachers demanded that grants for pupils should be increased from the current Sh1,420 per pupil to Sh8,077.

The teachers said free primary education allocation had not been reviewed since the programme started in 2003.

They also decried delay in disbursement of the capitation, saying they were forced to use borrowed funds to finance learning in public schools.

“We cannot talk of quality education when the capitation grant has remained constant for the last 16 years. We recommend that it should be reviewed to Sh8,077 per a child,” said Kenya Primary Schools Headteachers Association (Kepsha) Chairman Nicholas Gathemia.

He said the late release of the funds to the schools had burdened school heads, leading to the conflict between institutions’ managers and suppliers.

The teachers who spoke at the meeting said free primary education or sound implementation of the CBC was hanging in the balance due to inadequate funds or late disbursement.

Unrealistic demand

The PS cautioned the teachers that the increment they were seeking was unrealistic due to the current economic conditions in the country, citing failure by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to meet its tax collection targets. 

“We requested Sh40 billion for free primary and secondary but we were given Sh13.4 billion. This is because KRA failed to meet its targets,” said Kipsang.

He said that at the moment, the Ministry of Education budget was one of the highest but added that he was engaging the National Treasury to find more money to increase the capitation.

“We hope that Sh40 billion will be found before schools re-open in January,” he said.