Budget cuts to disrupt exams for 2.3m students, warns ministry
Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang.
More than two million national examination candidates could face disruptions in their assessment and certification processes following a budget shortfall.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said the overall budget reduction of Sh14.93 billion, with Sh8 billion cut from recurrent expenditure and Sh6.9 billion from development expenditure, would severely hurt their operations.
Consequently, the printed estimates will decrease from Sh142.26 billion to Sh127.33 billion if the supplementary estimates No. 1 for the FY 2024/25 budget are implemented as proposed.
“The entire reduction amount stems from government support, specifically from the development budget, which has decreased from Sh7.2 billion to sh350 million. The most affected programmes include key initiatives like school examinations and evaluations, which have seen their entire allocated amount removed,” Dr Kipsang told the National Assembly Education Committee.
Proposed reduction in supplementary estimates
He added: “The State Department has already registered 2,284,017 learners for the 2024 national examination and assessment. The 100 per cent proposed reduction in supplementary estimates will significantly impact the administration of these national examinations, potentially leading to severe disruptions.”
Dr Kipsang said the Sh3 billion allocation for the School Feeding Programme has been reassigned to another department, potentially causing coordination challenges as it may disrupt the provision of meals to vulnerable learners, adversely affecting their nutrition and retention in schools.
“A significant portion of the funding comes from our development partners, we have already engaged in consultations with the National Treasury to address this change,” he said.
The PS noted that the cancellation of plans to build 1,920 classrooms in public secondary schools would worsen congestion problems and obstruct the smooth implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Dr Kipsang revealed that the entire allocation of Sh1.92 billion for secondary schools has also been excluded, posing significant challenges due to the existing congestion and inadequate infrastructure in our senior schools.
Primary school infrastructure budget
“In the primary school infrastructure budget, the entire allocation of Sh770 million has been excluded in this supplementary budget, this exclusion will have a significant impact on our efforts to accommodate Grade 9 students beginning January. Additionally, for junior schools, which are part of the primary school system, the Sh2.782 million earmarked for their status and classroom construction has been completely removed from the printed estimates,” he said.
He further noted that the omission of Sh622 million needed for top-up capitation for special needs education learners would impact their support and resources, potentially hindering their educational progress.
Additionally, he said a budget deficit in Free Day Junior and Senior Secondary Education means that not all learners will receive the necessary capitation, leading to challenges in accessing education.
“An enrolment of 4,253,155 is expected between July and December 2024 then decline to 3,244,325 learners between January and June 2025. The reduction in the number is because no learners will be joining Form One in January 2025, we will only be having Forms two, three and four. The cost per learner is Sh22,244, which translates to a total requirement of Sh76.654 billion.
