Junior schools to get Sh69,000 each as ministry releases additional funds

The Ministry of Education has released Free Day Junior School Education (FDJSE) funds for the first term of 2024.

In a circular released on Friday, each learner has been allocated Sh3,291.34 and each school will receive Sh69,596.

Under operations, Sh800 will be used for Repairs Maintenance and Improvement (RMI), Sh130 will cater for administrative costs, Sh260 for co-curricular activities, Sh160 for local transport and travel and Sh90 for medical and insurance.

Under tuition, Sh917 will cater for textbooks and supplementary readers (KICD), Sh150 will cater for materials for practicals under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and Sh500 for stationery and writing materials.

In addition, Sh50, Sh112.50, and Sh121.34 have been set aside for capacity building, laboratory materials and assessment, respectively.

Further, each school will receive Sh69,596 as a basic allocation.

According to a vote head breakdown, Sh22,625 has been allocated to cater for rental box and postage, telephone charges, Board of Members (BOM) meetings and BOM capacity building.

Sh3,000 has been set aside for electricity, water and conservancy, Sh9,375 for internet connectivity, Sh33,150 for personal monument and Sh1,446.075 for reference materials.

Education PS Belio Kipsang noted that the funds are both for grade 7 and 8 learners.

"Schools are expected to utilize the resources as per the above vote heads," reads the circular.

For acknowledgement of funds received, all heads of institutions will be required to issue official school receipts to the Principal Secretary, State Department for Basic Education for both tuition and operation accounts with copies to the sub-county director of education and county director of education.

Individual students will also have to sign school lists per class that show their admission numbers and full names as in the admission register and the amount awarded.

"These lists should be attached to the payment voucher kept in the school as per procedure and every student issued with a school official receipt for the allocation," reads the circular.

"This acknowledgement must be accomplished within two weeks of receipt of funds. Schools whose acknowledgement is not received at the headquarters in the stipulated time will be suspended from the programme."

The Ministry also warned that schools which will not have provided the required details will risk being left out of the disbursement.

"Schools whose characteristics are conflicting will be left out of the disbursement. Such schools will receive their funds once the correct details are provided and confirmed. The head teacher of the concerned school shall write to the office of the Principal Secretary detailing the correct UIC, account details and enrolment," reads the circular.

"In addition, the respective sub-county directors of education will submit a list of all the concerned schools to the office of the Principal Secretary within two weeks of the disbursement."

The institutions have also been urged to complete their data on the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) as all disbursements will be based on the system.