Kenyan Public Schools Close Week Earlier as Cash Crunch Bites
- Public schools across the country were forced to close the second term earlier than scheduled, with students sent home
- Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) chairman Willie Kuria revealed the level of underfunding in the institutions
- Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) John Mbadi explained why the government cut the capitation by KSh 5,344 per student
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Due to delays in the distribution of government funds, public schools have closed one week earlier than scheduled, causing chaos in the academic calendar and raising concerns about national exam preparation.
Source: Getty Images
Following the closure, students will spend a month at home instead of the three weeks originally planned.
Lessons are scheduled to resume for the third term on Monday, August 25.
Why did public schools close early?
Many schools closed last week, and the rest are anticipated to close by today, Wednesday, July 30, according to the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA).
"Schools are broke, and the situation is dire. Only national and extra-county schools are still operational," KESSHA chairman Willie Kuria stated on Tuesday, July 29, as quoted by Daily Nation.
Kuria noted that schools' ability to carry out essential operations has been severely hampered by the government's delay in allocating funds for education, especially during the second term, which is crucial for KCSE exam preparation.
"Performing science practicals and purchasing necessary supplies are part of the preparation for these exams. You can't do this without money. Students are being sent home by schools because they are unable to continue operating, not because they want to," he explained.
Kuria disclosed that schools received KSh 3,200 per student this term and KSh 32,300 per student in the first term, which is significantly less than what is required to continue academic and other programmes.
Source: Getty Images
What did Mbadi say about free education?
Speaking before lawmakers on Thursday, July 24, Mbadi reduced the secondary school capitation from KSh 22,244 to KSh 16,900 per student, a decrease of KSh 5,344.
Citing a tight budget, the senior government official cautioned that President William Ruto's administration might no longer support the free primary education programme, describing it as untenable.
Mwai Kibaki, Kenya's third president, instituted the programme in 2003 to increase access to education.
Will the government pay exam fees?
The government also plans to discontinue the examination fee subsidy starting next year.
Unless a means-testing mechanism determines that a child is in need, the state will mandate that parents pay for their child's national tests.
Mbadi did not specify how need would be determined, but he did say that the government would employ a targeted subsidy plan to assist just those who cannot afford exam fees.
He said that parents whose children attend private schools with high tuition should be able to pay for them, and he questioned why taxpayers should foot the bill for all students' tests.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
