Schools Capitation to be Reviewed and Increased Every 3 Years
The capitation for students in the comprehensive education system should be revised every three years, according to the recommendations of the Presidential Working Group on Education Reforms.
The suggestion comes after several appeals for an increase in the monies allotted for the capitation of students in soon-to-be-defunct primary and secondary institutions.
Education stakeholders claim that the report’s suggestions have improved their access to financial resources. The research also suggests a little increase in the amount of money supplied to students over the present rate.
The research suggests that preschoolers earn Ksh. 1,170 annually, primary school students get Ksh. 2,238 instead of Ksh. 1,420, junior school students get Ksh. 15,043, an increase of Ksh. 43 annually, and senior school students get Ksh. 22,527, an increase of Ksh. 280.
The Kenyan primary and secondary school heads organisations have welcomed the small raise, despite the fact that it does not take into account the current economic situation, which has driven up the cost of necessities.
The Working Group calculated that it would cost Ksh 10,998 to feed two students at a school two meals for lunch and dinner in addition to porridge for breakfast.
However, the reality is very different in many schools; the figures greatly diverge from the situation that schools face across the country.
According to budget data provided by Citizen Digital for a typical secondary school, the price of feeding around 1,800 students has more than tripled in the last 12 months. A typical school in 2022 spent Ksh. 35,112 to feed one student.
To feed one student, a school will need about Ksh 53,069 in 2023, more than double this expense. The school administration sought parental help in response to this rise, which led to an almost Ksh18,000 increase in school fees.
Based on the cost of staple goods including rice, corn, beans, oil, cabbage and spices, the working group’s estimations of how much money should be set aside for capitation.
School administrators are at their wits’ end as they try to stretch that federal money as far as they can because these costs have more than doubled this year in school budgets.
There is, however, a glimmer of hope, say school officials, in the form of the planned financial minimum essential package that will enable schools to function regardless of the student enrollment.
Also Read: Ministry of Education issues New Guidelines For JSS Capitation Funding
According to Indimuli Kahi, chair of the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Associations (KSSHA), “We have been asking what the minimum amount is to run a school, other than relying on capitation, because some schools have had so few students that capitation has not been enough to provide them with the essential teaching learning materials.”
The Working Party described the lowest essential package in its report, which provides annual funding for pre-primary institutions of Ksh. 70,000, primary institutions of Ksh. 537,000, junior institutions of Ksh. 2.03 million, and senior institutions of Ksh. 3.04 million.
The secondary school directors association claims that this will completely alter how education is financed.
“We applaud this idea, with the execution of that and a slight rise in capitation. Following Kahi’s statement, “We will be able to calculate the required cost per school once we know which pathways the senior schools will pursue and what the cost implications will be for the learning areas and infrastructure requirements.”
The team’s decision to review the capitation every three years is praised by stakeholders, who ask that the government use its resources wisely by allocating 50% of the funds for the first term, 30% of the funds for the second term, and 20% of the funds for the third term.
The entire sums owed to the schools for the first and second terms are still pending. The end of the second semester is coming up next week, which prompts worries that the schools will still be in debt when the third term starts.
Schools Capitation to be Reviewed and Increased Every 3 Years
