Public schools have been plunged into a financial crisis because the Ministry of Education is yet to release funds for the first term.
School heads, who were expecting to receive the funds at the beginning of the month, are now struggling to pay suppliers, buy stationery and pay salaries for teachers employed by boards next week.
Normally, government releases 50 per cent of the cash, which is based on the population of learners in each school, at the beginning of the first term. Thirty per cent is paid in the second term and the remaining 20 in the third term.
The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association Chairman Kahi Indimuli said Monday that headteachers in public schools are unable to manage the large number of students without funds.
“As at Friday, the funds had not been released… We opened the schools three weeks ago,” he said.
The official said school heads had proposed to the ministry to base the first term’s capitation on last year’s student figures to avoid operational disruptions and then reconcile the budget later but that was not done.
He said day schools were most hurt because they are fully-funded by the government.
“Boarding secondary schools receive some funds from parents and the tuition fees from the government,” he said, adding that the funds crunch meant that the institutions cannot do repairs, buy learning materials, pay for water and electricity as well as cater for day-to-day operations.
Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang in October wrote to regional and county directors pledging to have the funds sent to schools in December.
The government introduced free secondary school education last year, for which it pays Sh22,224 per student per year.
For national and extra-county schools in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nyeri, Thika and Eldoret, the government pays Sh 22,244, while parents provide Sh53,554, bringing the total to Sh75,798 per year.
Category B boarding and extra-county schools in other areas receive Sh22,244 from government while parents pay Sh40,535 bringing the annual fees to Sh62,779.
Government has also increased the Special Needs Secondary Education funds to Sh57,974 from Sh37,210 with the parents paying Sh12,790, down from Sh32,600.
Last year, some day schools closed for the August holidays earlier than scheduled. This was because the ministry delayed in sending the second tranche. It only released Sh6.5 billion in the last week of the term, following pressure from headteachers.
Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association Chairman Shem Ndolo said school heads are struggling to run schools without funds.
“Primary schools entirely depend on government funding and therefore when funds are delayed, operations stop,” he said, adding, they had not bought teaching materials.
Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Wilson Sossion charged that the ministry was mismanaging the education system. “How can schools procure learning materials if money is not available?” he posed.