Strike looms over schools' capitation funds

A teachers’ union has demanded the release of all unremitted capitation funds owed to public schools and threatened to call a strike to paralyse operations at the beginning of the second term if the government does not send the funds estimated to total Sh54 billion.

The figure has accumulated for over five years as the government has not been sending the full amount. As a result, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) yesterday rejected a reduction of the learners’ capitation, terming the decision ‘grossly immoral’ as secondary schools struggle to survive the first term.

This follows an announcement on Monday by the principal secretary for Basic Education Belio Kipsang that each learner would receive about Sh17,000 annually for tuition needs, down from Sh22,244. Schools have received Sh3,877 per learner in the first term. Schools are scheduled to close on April 5 2024 and reopen on April 29 2024.

He blamed the inadequate funding for increasing enrolment against a constant budgeted figure.

Dr Kipsang said a total of Sh16.25 billion will be released to schools before they close. However, union officials said that a reduction of the capitation would “kill the dream of free and compulsory basic education”.

At the same time, the secretary-general of Kuppet Akello Misori and the national chair Omboko Milemba called for an exhaustive audit of students’ data on the National Education Management Information System (Nemis) alleging that the government has been losing money funding ‘ghost learners’ through inflated enrolment.

“Schools will not open for the second term. It is grossly immoral to imagine a reduction in the capitation amount. At a time when Kenya is recording double-digit growth in tax revenues and allocations for renovations and foreign travel are gobbling billions of shillings, how can the government possibly not afford to allocate the resources needed to maintain the current level of capitation?” Asked Mr Misori.

The current capitation was fixed in 2018. The official said that the Ministry of Education cannot reduce the capitation allocated to learners without seeking Parliamentary approval since the budget is allocated by the National Assembly. He was speaking during a press briefing at the union headquarters in Nairobi.

“With three weeks left on the school term, the institutions are finding it hard to meet their daily obligations including utility bills, payment of non-teaching staff, purchase of learning materials including stationery, laboratory chemicals, teaching and learning materials and co-curricular activities,” Mr Misori said.

Mr Milemba said that learning especially in day schools has been grossly affected by delays and reduction of capitation funds since the schools rely on the money for their tuition needs. This, he said, has a direct correlation to the quality of education learners receive.

In the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) the number of candidates who scored a mean grade E rose from 30,822 to 48,174. Day schools account for the majority of grade Es.

“The registration process on Nemis should be made easy and quick. It’s upon the Ministry of Education to give the actual number of students who are in all schools. We demand a total audit of Nemis and capitation because we believe a lot of money is remaining at the ministry.

"Principals are being forced to write receipts of money they haven’t expended and forward while the expenditure is being done in Nairobi,” Mr Omboko said.

Additionally, Kuppet criticised the government for terminating the EduAfya medical insurance scheme and failing to replace it with a viable alternative.

“President William Ruto can act on this because we have seen him confront very serious malpractices. Kuppet believes that only the President can avert further damage. We appeal directly to the President to stop the haemorrhage in the education budget,” Mr Milemba added.

On Tuesday, the Leader of the Minority Opiyo Wandayi accused the Ministry of Education of “setting up” for failure principals and managers of schools. 

“We’re calling on teachers and parents to stop struggling in fear and to speak out boldly. School heads have run out of ideas to run schools without money and parents afford the money they were promised that the government would cater for. If nothing is urgently done, we’re likely to see a crisis of monumental proportions in the entire education sector,” he said.

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