Capitation crisis: Schools face financial paralysis weeks before start of national exams

The government’s delay in releasing capitation funds has sparked a fresh confrontation with teachers’ unions, who warn that schools are sinking into crisis just weeks before national examinations.

Union leaders accused the Ministry of Education of hiding behind a verification exercise while principals and teachers grapple with a worsening financial paralysis in schools.

The uproar comes a day after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, appearing before the Senate Committee on Education, requested one more week to complete the verification process. The audit, which began a month ago, has so far covered 29,000 schools and facilitated the release of Sh18 billion for the third term, including Sh5.9 billion for national examinations.

The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) is scheduled to start on October 21, with rehearsals set for October 17. The new Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) will follow on October 27, running alongside the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment and the Kenya Primary Learning Evaluation Assessment. The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has described this as an exceptionally busy examination period that is already straining schools.

Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Secretary General Akelo Misori demanded the immediate release of funds, dismissing government claims about ghost schools as a diversion from the crisis on the ground.

“We don’t care how many ghost schools exist for now. That is a matter for anti-corruption authorities to deal with. As teachers, we want the CS to release capitation funds to genuine schools as he had promised two months ago,” Misori said.

He also questioned the credibility of the government’s verification exercise, citing contradictory statistics issued by different state officials.

“With the conflicting numbers being thrown around after the so-called verification, how does the government expect us to take that exercise seriously?” he posed.

Misori warned that the continued delays were crippling institutions, leaving principals and teachers unable to manage schools just as exams approached.

“The government is holding the education sector hostage with bureaucratic red tape. Learners are suffering, and schools are being pushed to the brink,” he added.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Deputy Secretary General Hesbon Otieno also expressed frustration, saying only six per cent of schools had received full capitation, leaving the vast majority stranded.

“The verification process is a good initiative, but it is very slow. I’ve spoken to six principals, and all of them confirm that only a handful of schools have received the money. What does that tell you? It means most schools are stuck, and exams are just around the corner. This is a real worry,” Otieno said.

He urged the ministry to adopt emergency measures, including using existing enrolment data to disburse funds while verification continues in the background, to ease the financial strain facing schools.

“This exercise was supposed to end a long time ago. But all we keep hearing is, ‘give us more time.’ Schools don’t have the luxury of time. We are staring at national exams soon, teachers are under immense pressure to complete the syllabus, and principals are drowning in debt. The government cannot afford to drag its feet any longer. The CS must put his house in order and release the funds immediately if we are to avert a crisis in our schools,” he added.

Otieno further accused the ministry of sending mixed signals, pointing to conflicting statements by senior officials.

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“The Cabinet Secretary cannot say one thing and the Principal Secretary another. Then there is a point to worry, and it shows that the ministry is not reading from the same script,” he said.