Broke Christmas for school suppliers as Treasury delays cash

Public secondary schools are yet to receive State funding with only two weeks to the end of the Term Two learning cycle, piling pressure on head teachers who are facing demands for payments from suppliers.

With the Christmas school holidays scheduled to start in about 14 days, suppliers of goods such as food and learning materials as well as cleaning and security services are staring at a broke festive period, unless the Treasury answers head teachers’ calls to release the delayed cash.   

Secondary school principals say that they have received only half of the total capitation amount for Form Two to Form Four students, while Form One learners have been funded for only one term since their entry in school in August.

The Ministry of Education Cabinet Secretary, George Magoha, had announced that all Term One and Term Two funding had been released to schools.

According to the head teachers, there have been two cash disbursements to secondary schools in the 2021 academic calendar, which began on July 26 2021. The Ministry of Education releases funds to schools in three tranches of 50, 30 and 20 per cent in first, second and third term respectively.

The government pays Sh22,244 sponsorship annually for each student in secondary school and Sh1,420 for each pupil in primary school. Special needs education schools receive Sh57,974 per learner.  

The first tranche was paid on July 16 in which every student was allocated Sh5,700, being 25 per cent of the total annual capitation under the Free Day Secondary Education programme.

The funds excluded the allocation for Form One learners who reported to secondary schools a week later. They were not included since the ministry had not yet captured their data on the National Education Management Information System (Nemis). The 25 per cent balance for Term One was released on October 8, in which every student was allocated Sh4,657.

Accumulated huge debts

The total cash received for every student in Form Two to Form Four for the two terms adds up to Sh10,357. Form Ones have only received Sh4,657. The two disbursements are evidenced in two Ministry of Education circulars dated August 9 and October 8, 2021.

The October disbursement was based on data extracted from the Nemis on September 27, while the funds released on August 9 showed that the Ministry relied on data available on Nemis on July 16.

The earlier circular issued by Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan clarified that the funds were for Form 2, 3 and 4 learners while the money meant for Form One learners would be processed once their reporting and registration on Nemis was completed.

School heads who spoke to the Nation said schools have accumulated huge debts for the 2021 academic calendar, which will take long to repay.

“Where is the 30 per cent per learner for Term Two, which is almost ending? Where is the 25 per cent of Term 1 for Form Ones, which was to be sent later?” paused a principal from a school in Kisii County on condition of anonymity fearing reprisal from the Ministry.

Another principal of a secondary school in Samburu County said the learning institutions are struggling as they have no alternative sources of income.

“We depend on the government funding and students’ fees to run schools. Since schools reopened this year, parents have not been faithful in paying fees and this has made it difficult for principals,” he said.

In July the government released Sh17.47 billion to primary and secondary schools. Of the amount, Sh2.62 billion was meant for learners in primary schools while Sh14.85 billion was to support secondary school students.

Cost of running schools

Prof Magoha also announced that Sh17.5 billion was released to schools in the second term. Of this amount Sh15.3 billion was disbursed to secondary schools while Sh2.2 billion was sent to primary schools. For special needs schools, Dr Jwan announced that the government has released Sh198.2 million to Special Needs Education (SNE) primary and secondary schools.

Sh113,749,932 million was released to the SNE and integrated learning primary schools while Sh43,485,923 million was sent to the SNE secondary schools. A further Sh41,087,135 million was also released to SNE integrated secondary schools.

Speaking to the Nation, Special Schools Heads Association of Kenya (SSHAK) chairman Peter Sitienei said the funds released by the government to the schools is inadequate.

“The government is underestimating the cost of running the schools. This year, we have only received half of the grants which are not enough to run schools,” said Mr Sitienei.

Responding to the complaints raised, the director of secondary and tertiary education, Paul Kibet, said the money has been budgeted and will be released before the end of the academic year in March. 

“This academic year, we are not using the 50:30:20 formula. We issued a circular saying that funds will be released in four quarters. So far, we have disbursed two quarters, the remaining quarters will be released in due course,” said Mr Kibet.

The director did not, however, say when the government plans to release the pending funds for the Form Ones and the capitation for the second term for all secondary school students.

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