Public school headteachers across Kenya are raising alarm over the shockingly low and delayed disbursement of capitation funds from the government, with some schools receiving as little as Ksh87.
The school heads have warned that unless the situation is urgently addressed, learning could stop in several institutions due to a lack of essential resources.
In Nyanza, a school head revealed that he was shocked to see only Ksh87 credited to the school account.
Further, he noted that the school received a stern circular from the Ministry of Education warning school leaders against asking parents for additional support.
Additionally, the school head said that the deteriorating infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, and unpaid bills were compounding the problem, while there was an increase in enrollment.
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Another School Receives Ksh4,000
On the other hand, Ng’op Ngeso Comprehensive School, also in Nyanza, is reported to have received only Ksh4,000 from the government as funding for the second term in this year’s academic calendar.
The school’s headteacher, Mark Onyango noted that the school has a population of 215 learners; 58 in pre-primary, 125 in primary and 33 in junior schools.
Also, it only had eight teachers, six in primary and one each in pre-primary and junior.
“What we are getting as a capitation cannot enable us to manage the affairs of this school. We have inadequate classrooms for JSS. Currently, we are in grade eight, and those grade eights have only one class.
“The learners in Grade 7 do not have good classrooms. On staffing, we need more JSS teachers, because one teacher cannot handle them. Their primary counterparts are now forced to teach subjects there,” the headteacher said.
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Nyanza Education Heads Respond
Nyanza Regional Director of Education, Lawrence Karuntimi, said that he was unaware of the exact figures and promised to escalate the matter to the national level if the allegations were confirmed.
Meanwhile, Kisumu County Education Executive John Awiti warned that continued delays and underfunding could severely compromise the quality of education across the country.
The Ministry of Education released Ksh22 billion to fund school operations for the second term in all public basic education institutions.
Free Day Junior School Education was allocated Ksh9 billion, with Free Day Junior School (Special Needs Education) getting Ksh118 million. Ksh12 billion was allocated for the Free Day Secondary Education.
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