Cash crisis bites as audit of ghost schools delays capitation funds

PS Basic Education Julius Bitok before the National Assembly Education Committee on 2025/26 budget estimates at Bunge Towers, Nairobi. May 13, 2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] School heads nationwide are grappling with frustration and a severe cash crunch as they enter the third week of Term Three. This comes even as the Education ministry on Friday announced it had begun releasing capitation funds to schools that have submitted enrolment data for verification. Basic Education PS Julius Bitok, however, said only 3,000 out of 32,000 schools whose data has been received at the Ministry headquarters have been cleared and consequently received Third Term capitation after their data was certified as genuine. "So far, 3,000 schools have been able to receive capitation after being verified to have the correct data on the correct number of students that are in schools. We are anticipating that by the end of next week, all of our 32,000 schools will have received their money," said Prof Bitok on Friday at the Machakos Teachers Training College, where the verification process is underway. Schools are required to submit the Unique Personal Identifier (UPI) which is contained in the birth certificate of every learner, the school's registration number and certified bank account details through the respective sub-country Education offices. However, speaking yesterday, school heads reported that the situation in schools is dire. Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (Kepsha) chairman Fuad Ali said entering into the third week will spell an even worse situation for schools. Fuad explained that primary and junior secondary schools solely depend on capitation to run the institutions and without the funds, operations have been a major challenge. "We have had a meeting with the Education ministry and they have explained that they want to clean up the school data and that it would help save a lot of money, and from the meeting, it was agreed that the funds will get to school by the end of next week," Fuad said. But the PS assured schools that have submitted the correct data that they will receive funds by Friday. The ministry has extended the submission deadline to Friday, September 12. He said secondary schools top the compliance list followed by junior schools while primary schools are behind largely due to internet and technology challenges. Bitok cited Masii Boys High School as a case study of timely compliance, noting that it was the first school in Machakos County to submit its data and has already received full capitation. "I am very pleased that when we visited Masii, the principal confirmed that the funds had been credited to the school account and that operations will now run smoothly," he noted. The verification exercise, Education CS Julius Ogamba said earlier this week is the reason behind the delayed disbursement of capitation funds. The audit that was meant to come to an end on Friday was extended to Friday, September 12, 2025, to allow schools yet to comply to do so. The PS warned principals and county supervisors who are yet to submit data in the correct format that they risk severe punishment for missed deadlines. The audit was triggered by an earlier report from the Auditor General, will seek to establish the number of schools and learners before the release of capitation funding. "The verification exercise is the reason behind the delayed disbursement of capitation to schools," Ogamba told The Standard in an exclusive interview on Thursday. According to the CS, the Ministry is validating student numbers submitted by head teachers and cross-checking them with records from sub-county directors of education. "Once we ascertain the numbers, the first schools to be verified will immediately get their funds," he said. The PS defended the exercise as essential in weeding out ghost schools and exaggerated enrolment adding that the Auditor General's special audit on capitation and MPs inquiries had cast doubts on past disbursements.

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