Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls Chief Principal, Jane Kimiti with her students and teachers on January 9, 2025.
It costs school managers Sh378 each day to keep one learner in a national school in Kenya. Those in extra-county and county schools spend Sh358 daily per learner while day scholars need Sh110.
This is according to data put together by the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) who now say that either the government or the parents must pay more since the capitation and school fees they receive is not enough for effective learning to happen.
The financial needs are listed in a proposal by Kessha to the Ministry of Education to cover expenditures for teaching learning materials, boarding, equipment and stores (B.E.S), repairs, maintenance and improvement (RMI), local transport and travel (L.T &T), administration costs, electricity, water and conservancy (E.W.C).
The other voteheads are personal emoluments (for non-teaching staff salaries), activity, medical insurance, lunch programme and approved maintenance and improvement fund.
“The figures are arrived at after considering all the vote heads and then dividing by the average number of days that a student is supposed to be in school (252) in a year. From the average cost of keeping a student in school in a day, we get the average cost of maintaining a student in a year and from there, we derive the total fees payable per student in a year,” the document reads.
The principals argue that the approved fees guidelines are impractical and either the government or the parents must foot the balance. The official annual fees guidelines payable by parents are Sh53,554 (national schools) and Sh40,535 for extra-county and county schools. Learners in day schools are not charged any tuition fees. They only pay for lunch as agreed between the school administration and the parents association.
Lake Bogoria Girl's High School students take lunch at the institution on January 25, 2019.
The government is supposed to pay Sh22,244 per learner annually under the Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) programme. According to Kessha, this has decreased to Sh10,490 that schools received last year. This, they say, has resulted in Sh54,220,185,855 owed to schools since 2019. A third of the amount is the deficit for 2024 alone.
Annual fees
The principals have proposed new annual fees of Sh73,182 (national schools), Sh68,023 (extra-county and county schools) and Sh5,372 for day schools. This is meant to cover the budget deficit.
“The money that was being given to schools 17 years ago in 2008 (Sh10,625), when the programme started, is more than what schools receive today after retentions and partial disbursement,” the document reads.
The calculation of the financial needs of schools takes into consideration the price movement of an assortment of goods and services that are commonly used in schools from 2015 to 2025. These include stationery, fuel, electricity, common foodstuffs, building materials as well as salaries. From their calculation, Kessha claims there is an average rise in costs by 46.7 percent.
“The association has always, with utmost courtesy, voiced concerns to the relevant parties whenever it has been felt that corrective action and redress is needed,” said Kessha chair Willy Kuria.
Students from Suswa Girls Secondary School in Kajiado County queue for lunch at their school on 17 January 2020.
Kessha observes that the cost of goods and services has gone up since the fees guidelines and capitation were last reviewed in 2018. It has asked for the establishment of a minimum essential package allocation for schools (not based on enrolment) as recommended by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.
Capitation funds
Mr Kuria said partial and delayed disbursement of capitation funds, coupled with the rising costs of goods and services, has placed an immense strain on the management and sustainability of schools.
“In addition, the inadequate fees charged to students, which fail to synchronise with the current economic realities, have exacerbated the financial challenges. Unless this situation is addressed urgently by relevant authorities, secondary schools in Kenya are at the brink of imminent closure, which will negatively impact the future of countless students,” said Mr Kuria.
Alliance Girls Chief Principal Jeddah Mwangi joins her students in celebrating the school's good performance after the 2024 KCSE results were announced.
The principals outlined areas of challenges that require critical intervention and consideration to ensure that schools remain functional and continue to provide quality education.
In 2008, the rate of capitation per learner was Sh10,625. This was increased to Sh12,870 in 2015 and then to Sh22,244 in 2018. He said the current capitation of Sh22,244 per learner was last reviewed seven years ago.
“It is therefore incongruent with the prevailing economic realities. The cost of common goods and services has drastically gone up while the capitation has remained constant. A cursory look at the cost of goods ubiquitous in schools will reveal that inflation has gone up by between 41 per cent to 47 per cent since 2015,” reads the document.
A ream of copier paper that retailed at Sh420 in 2015 is going for Sh890 in 2025, a difference of Sh470.
In 2015, school administrators used to budget Sh127,672 monthly to pay non-teaching staff salaries. This has now risen to Sh169,441.
Other essentials listed are salt Sh580 for a bale which now costs Sh980, cooking fat 17kg, rice 50kg bag was Sh3600 in 2015 and is now selling at Sh7200.
A 50kg bag of sugar was Sh5000 and is now Sh7800, a 90kg maize flour bag was Sh4500 and has increased to Sh8800, seven-tonne lorry of firewood was Sh16, 000 is now fetching Sh25,000.
“The price of goods in 2025 is Sh302,879- the price of goods in 2015 was Sh206,441 this is a 46.7 per cent increment. If we apply the concept of the unit cost of keeping a student in school for a day, then we would recommend school fees increment,” said the association.
