KNUT up in arms as Gov’t fails to release school capitation
The Kenya National Union of
Teachers (KNUT) is warning that school programmes may soon grind to a halt
owing to delayed disbursement of Free Primary Education and Free Secondary
Education funds for this year.
The union is demanding the immediate disbursement of capitation
funds to avert a crisis in learning institutions.
The demand by KNUT officials comes at a time when several school
heads have decried the funding crisis which they say hampers smooth operations
in the learning institutions.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has in the meantime
given an assurance that the monies will be in school accounts within the next
two weeks.
"Heads are crying, principals are crying the situation is
pathetic," said KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu.
The government had committed to allocate Ksh.22,244 annually per
learner which was to be disbursed in installments of 50% in the first term, 30%
in the second term and 20% in the third term.
However, only half of the allocation for the first term was disbursed
less than a month before the closure of schools.
"50% of Ksh.22,244 is Ksh.11,122 but so far what we have
received is Ksh.3, 877. Tuko na changamoto bado na tunaomba kama tunaeza kupata
ile capitation second tranche kwa sababu madeni yanatusumbua," said Oyuu.
In January this year, the National Treasury announced the release
of Ksh.31.34 billion. At the time, the government owed schools more than Ksh.87
billion for the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 financial years.
Schools have been under pressure from suppliers for defaulting on
payments, sparking concerns among stakeholders that the delayed disbursements
may compromise the quality of education in the country with day secondary
schools, which fully depend on capitation, bearing the biggest brunt.
"Maybe apart from lunch which is where parents pay,
everything else in this capitation, there is the salaries of non-teaching
staff, the salaries of the non-teachers... this is a term for co-curricular
activities," added the KNUT boss.
They union said that under the current circumstances, the
directive by the Ministry of Education not to send learners home over school
fee arrears is impractical.
"97% of our students have reported back to school but the
parents are pushing for us to have the students without them paying," Oyuu
noted.
"We want to appeal to the government, can we check on timely
capitation to our schools so that learners remain in school so that heads are
not seen as being biased…so that heads are not seen as going against the school
policy…at times we are pushed to the wall."
School heads are further urging the government to review the
capitation upwards to factor in the inflation rates.
“The prices skyrocketed by more than 50% for example a bag of
maize we were buying at Ksh.3,600…by close of the year it was around Ksh.8,000.
A bag of sugar was Ksh.4,500, by the end of the year it was roughly Ksh.11,000
or Ksh.10,500,” added Oyuu.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has in the meantime
given an assurance that the monies will hit the school accounts within two
weeks.
“We
gave the first quarter of capitation and I believe anytime from next week or
the next week after we should be able to give the next quarter of capitation. I
know schools have waited for this but in one or two weeks we should be able to
have disbursed the funds,” Machogu said.
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