It is now confirmed that schools started receiving the capitation for second term according to KESSHA’s National Treasurer Amos Cherono who is also the Principal Kapcherop Boys in Elgeyo Marakwet. Schools whose bank accounts are in National and Equity banks have already received the money, estimating that those with other banks will have it by tomorrow.
Amos however, did not mention the exact amounts credited, adding that he is awaiting the circular from the Ministry of Education. Some school heads who have confirmed receiving the cash have also expressed frustrations over what they termed as inadequate funds. They have revealed that they have received only Ksh4156 per learner, Ksh3404 for operations and Ksh750 for tuition. It is short of Ksh5,000 that was expected for every learner this term.
Other heads also said they were waiting for the circular from the ministry to direct them further as they worry the amount received was too little to pay suppliers. Controversy has been witnessed in the disbursement after the government allocated Ksh65 billion for Free Secondary Education in the current financial year, meaning that a student’s quota was Ksh17,000 down from Ksh22,224.
The Principal Secretary, Basic Education, Belio Kipsang, while testifying before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee earlier in the year, claimed that, the cut capitation was contrasting with the increased enrollment registered each year.
“We need to enhance the blocked figure of about Ksh65 billion because when it was capped at Ksh65 billion, our secondary school student population was 3.2 million; but now, as of January 2024, we have 4.2 million students in our secondary schools. The amount that has been given is always between Ksh64 billion and Ksh65 billion,” he said.