Education Institutions Resort to Unqualified Staff Due to Underfunding and Delayed Capitation
Inadequate capitation has forced educational institutions to hire unqualified workers due to their inability to retain fully qualified staff.
The Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education revealed this during a meeting with Cabinet Secretary for Education Ezekiel Machogu, who seemed to answer questions on educational institution management.
Jack Wamboka’s committee reported an annual decline in government capitation, frequently falling below 30%. This, they discovered, made it nearly impossible for educational institutions to completely operationalize.
During the deliberations, the parliamentarians discovered significant shortcomings in learning institutions while following the Auditor General’s report and physically verifying papers.
Furthermore, most accounting officers lack fundamental management training, which leads to audit inquiries.
The committee advised that the ministry develop a policy for staff training, which they described as critical to the overall management and effectiveness of learning institutions.
The committee discovered that a large number of jobs inside universities and higher institutions were vacant, resulting in acting roles being filled beyond the specified timeframes, which is illegal.
The lawmakers pointed out that this action violates Section 34(3) of the Public Service Commission Act, 2017, which stipulates that an officer may serve in an acting capacity for at least thirty days but not exceeding six months.
Wamboka highlighted examples such as Kenyatta University’s registrar, who has been in an acting position for nearly six years, and Multimedia University’s Finance Officer, who has been acting for over five years.
The committee also determined that most tertiary institutions are understaffed and lack fundamental resources for the effective performance of their purpose.
The MPs noted that the ministry’s staffing levels were low, pushing the institution to absorb additional personnel despite the underlying budget limits.
The parliamentarians urged the CS to elaborate on the problems identified, the likely reason for dysfunction in public educational institutions, and the initiatives the ministry has implemented to rectify them.
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In response, Machogu stated that he has been consistently implementing measures to rectify the identified deficiencies.
The CS was asked to harmonize his report with the Auditor General’s in two weeks and to hold any officers involved accountable before coming before the committee again.
Education Institutions Resort to Unqualified Staff Due to Underfunding and Delayed Capitation
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