Govt Disburses Sh30.5 Billion School Capitation, Student Loans and Scholarships: Breakdown
To fund secondary school education capitation, loans, and university scholarships, the government has disbursed Sh30.5 billion. The funds have been provided as secondary school principals prepare to close for the April holidays a week earlier than planned due to the financial crisis that has plagued educational institutions across the country for months.
Mr. Ezekiel Machogu, the Education Cabinet Secretary, stated that Sh7 billion will fund capitation for public schools at the junior secondary level, while Sh16 billion will cover capitation grants under the free day secondary school education plan.
The government has allocated Sh6.794 billion to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) for loans, and the Universities Fund will disburse Sh3.98 billion for scholarships. The CS stated that schools will receive the cash before their April breaks next week.
He noted that the government’s total sum released for loans and scholarships this fiscal year is Sh32 billion and Sh12 billion, respectively. Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) National Chairman, Mr. Willy Kuria, verified that the monies have begun to arrive in their accounts.
Mr. Kuria, who is also the principal of Murang’a High School, stated that principals have had to convince creditors for months that there is no money in schools.
Scholarships and loans
In January of this year, the government issued Sh14.4 billion to pay for scholarships and loans for government-sponsored first-year university students under the New Higher Education Funding Model.
Mr. Machogu further stated that the loans covered the second semester of the 2023–2024 academic year for continuing students. He continued by stating that the New Funding Model disbursed Sh5.3 billion for student loans and another Sh3.9 billion for scholarships for first-year students in October of last year.
“Some Sh10.3 billion was released to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) in September 2023 to cater for continuing student loans in universities and TVET colleges,” a statement said.
According to the New Higher Education Funding model, the Universities Fund will allocate funds directly to universities. HELB, for its part, will disburse tuition loans directly to universities and colleges and maintain loans through student bank accounts or mobile phone numbers.
He stated that universities would receive the scholarship funds for their respective pupils. The pupils were classified using a solid scientific method, a means testing instrument (MTI), which was used to identify the student’s level of financial need in order to assure suitable support.
The New Higher Education Funding Model will apply to students who sit for KCSE beginning in 2022. The second batch of KCSE examination candidates, who took the national exam last year, will receive payments under the new funding model when they commence their university and college studies later this year.
Delayed Payments
Last Monday, Mr. Opiyo Wandayi, the National Assembly Minority Leader, demanded President William Ruto come out and inform Kenyans if his administration has abolished free primary and secondary education due to payment delays.
Mr. Wandayi painted a bleak picture of how schools are failing as a result of non-remittance of capitation monies, claiming that the Kenya Kwanza administration owes nearly Sh52.8 billion in free day school education funds dating back to 2021.
The Ugunja MP, in a statement to newsrooms, advocated for an increase in the existing capitation of Sh22,244 per learner per year, determined in 2017, to accommodate rising inflation. Mr. Wandayi urged teachers and parents to quit living in fear and speak out boldly for their children’s futures, which are being stolen by this administration.
Mr. Wandayi stated that Kenyans must be aware that things are not going well in the education sector, with school principals running out of ideas for running schools on a shoestring budget and parents unable to pay school fees that the government committed to covering.
However, Mr. Machogu stated that the administration is committed to remitting the cash. He denied accusations of a crisis in the education sector and assured stakeholders that funds would be disbursed soon.
Mr. Wandayi stated that in order to make ends meet, some schools have increased boarding costs, implemented food rationing, or changed their pupils’ meals entirely. “Despite the instability in the education sector, the government remains opaque about the situation and has resorted to lying.”
In the current fiscal year, 2023-2024, schools received only Sh7,348 out of the required total of Sh22,244 per learner per year, claimed the MP.
Mr. Wandayi noted that some school authorities claim the amount disbursed is as low as Sh3,877 per learner. Students around the country are presently sitting for exams to break for the second term, despite the difficult economic conditions that are plaguing the institutions.
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Govt Disburses Sh30.5 Billion School Capitation, Student Loans and Scholarships: Breakdown
