The long wait is over and Schools can finally breath a sigh of relief after the Treasury released Sh19 Billion Fees Capitation Funds.
Education CS Julius Ogamba has said that Treasury had sent the initial amount and assured headteachers and principals that the government will address other pending challenges in a fortnight.
Speaking at Umoja Comprehensive School, Mombasa County during an inspection of ongoing grade 9 classrooms, the CS said that an initial 19 billion was disbursed on January 22, 2025.
โโฆโฆwe were supposed to receive Sh 48 billion but we were able to receive Sh19 billion on January 22, which has been disbursed to schools. Another Sh 15 billion will be disbursed tomorrow( January 24),โ said Mr Ogamba.
Schools and especially JS have already started sourcing for learning materials ranging from stationeries, games and sports equipments, kitchen wares, Laboratory chemicals and Equipments and many other requirements.
School Principals Want Capitation Amount Reviewed Upwards
The chairperson of Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) Mr.Willy Kuria wants funds given to schools as capitation to be reviewed upwards.
Kuria who spoke to Journalists in Murangโa County argued the value of the money they receive for each student annually has gone down as compared to increasing prices of school items.
The chairperson stated that the capitation of Sh. 22, 000 per student per annum was set back in 2017 observing prices of commodities has escalated and many schools have been left grappling with debts.
Kuria who is also the principal of Murangโa High School said apart from paying for daily operations in the schools, the capitation also caters for development expenses including construction and renovation of school infrastructure, payment of salaries for non-teaching staff, and extracurricular activities among others.
โThe money we usually get hardly caters for expenses and running of the schools. The review was done seven years ago and itโs the right time for all stakeholders to convene and review the capitation amount,โ he said at his school.
Primary school head teachers will be the highest beneficiaries of the Sh48 billion capitation for all public primary and secondary schools in 2025. The headโฆย Read More ยป
The ministry of education, Kuria noted, should spearhead the process of reviewing the capitation as soon as possible saying many secondary schools are experiencing financial crunch which is crippling the learning.
โWe need to sit down and evaluate the amount of money each student spends in school per year to see if what the government is giving is enough and what can be done to bridge the gap,โ said Kuria.
He continued, โThe money paid by the student cannot be enough to manage the schools and pay the debts.โ
Kuria warned that if the matter will not be urgently addressed, learning in many schools may be paralyzed.
With the delayed release of capitation by the government, the principal said schools have accrued huge debts.
He pointed out that last year, there was a deficit of Sh.7, 000 per student in the money disbursed by the government and this saw the institutions close the year with unsettled bills.
โThe debts keep on piling because we are not getting enough money and we are just doing the bare minimum such as buying food just to keep the children in school and keep the institutions afloat,โ remarked Kuria.
Further he said there being no form one intake this year might make things worse as during the admissions, they are able to raise money to offset some of the debts.
He added that the institutions which solely rely on capitation are now on standstill because they are not able to buy the learning materials.
This being the third week after the opening of the first term, he urges the government to haste in releasing the money for capitation adding that even the suppliers have been adamant in making any deliveries due to the unsettled debts.
โWe are now being forced to send the students home so that their parents can pay something so that we can keep the schools afloat.
โWe are hoping that the money will be released soon and it should also be the 50 percent to help us run through the first term smoothly,โ he added.
University Student charged for swaping 1.1 Million School Funds
Gideon Kibet Langat, a university graduate, was on Monday arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, facing charges related to the diversion of Sh1.1 million in capitation funds meant for a primary school in Bomet County.
The funds, allocated by the Ministry of Education to support educational initiatives, were reportedly transferred into Langatโs personal bank account at the National Bank of Kenyaโs Nandi Hills branch without proper authorisation.
In court, Langat was accused of using mobile banking to withdraw the funds and then transferring them to accomplices via Pesalink.
The fraud came to light when a bank flagged the suspicious transaction, prompting the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to launch an investigation into the matter.
Detective Constable Julie Rutto, from the DCIโs Banking Fraud Investigations Unit (BFID), filed an affidavit revealing that the scheme was well-coordinated, involving multiple parties, some of whom remain at large.
โThe said amount was diverted from the Ministry of Education as capitation fees meant for Menet Primary School in Bomet County,โ she said.
