Here is why schools might close early
Public primary and secondary schools may close earlier for the second term.
According to principals and headteachers, schools are scheduled to close on August 12, 2023, per the Ministry of Education’s school calendar, but according to the school administrators, this won’t be possible if the government doesn’t distribute all of the capitation funds.
Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Associations Chairman Indimuli Kahi and his primary school’s counterpart Johnson Nzioka, claim that the government did not disburse the full capitation amount to schools in the 2021/22 financial year stripping the institution of about Sh5,000.
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Schools may suffer the same fate this year (2022/2023) as the government still owes Sh4,300 per student.
“We did not receive the full capitation amount in the 2021/22 financial year and we are yet to receive the full amount of the current 2022/23 financial year,” said Indimuli.
He added that these funds should have been deposited before the end of the term. Schools close on August 12 for a three-week period that will end on August 27.
This means the institutions have two weeks of teaching, learning, and conducting the end-of-term examinations.
Nzioka said that schools are struggling to meet their day-to-day operations due to the underfunding of schools by the government.
“One way to avert a crisis will be closing early, to save on some days that we otherwise don’t have funds to meet operations,” he added.
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The ripple effect, Indimuli said, has pushed schools into debt and squeezed the little resources to serve the total student population.
“We are in a very delicate situation where schools are headed for the end-of-term exams which need some financing, we also need to pay the non-teaching staff.”
However, Basic Education PS Belio Kipsang said that all the money had been sent to schools.
“As far as we are concerned we have sent all the money to schools,” he said while speaking at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) during the closure of an international curriculum conference.
In June, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Mochogu said the government would release the capitation funds after an outburst by school heads.
While answering questions on Wednesday last week from Members of Parliament, Machogu said that there was a delay in the disbursement of funds.
Machogu said he had liaised with Treasury to release the funds.
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