Teachers issue strike notice over delayed school capitation

The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has threatened to call for a strike if the government fails to release all capitation funds owned to public schools.

KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori said the government has seven days to release the funds estimated to be a total of Sh54 billion, failure to which school operations will stall at the beginning of the second term.

The union noted that the government has only released a Sh3,877 capitation per student to schools instead of the Sh11,122 expected for the first term.

Speaking on Wednesday, Misori said school heads have been subjected to ridicule and accusations of poor leadership due to the delayed release of capitation, which has been slashed.

"The union is disturbed that the government has decided to institute cuts in spending in education and this negates the principle of free education which is compulsory," he said.

“Schools will not open for the second term. It is grossly immoral to imagine a reduction in the capitation amount. At a time when Kenya is recording double-digit growth in tax revenues and allocations for renovations and foreign travel are gobbling billions of shillings, how can the government possibly not afford to allocate the resources needed to maintain the current level of capitation?"

He argued that the Ministry of Education cannot reduce the capitation allocated to learners without seeking Parliamentary approval since the budget is allocated by the National Assembly.

"With three weeks left on the school term, the institutions are finding it hard to meet their daily obligations including utility bills, payment of non-teaching staff, purchase of learning materials including stationery, laboratory chemicals, teaching and learning materials and co-curricular activities," Misori said.

Increase capitation

Misori called on President William Ruto to increase capitation for schools.

"Given the multifaceted cuts to Education this year, KUPPET believes that only President William Ruto can avert further damage. For that reason, we appeal directly to the President to stop the haemorrhage in the Education budget," he said.

The union's national chairman Omboko Milemba said learning especially in day schools has been grossly affected by delays and reduction of capitation funds since the schools rely on the money for their tuition needs. This, he said, has a direct correlation to the quality of education learners receive.

Appearing before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee on Monday, Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said the capitation per student which should be Sh22,224 has been revised downward to Sh17,000 to cater for the needs of all students.

Kipsang lamented that the student population had been growing, but the amount allocated for Free Secondary Education capitation has remained the same; a blocked figure of around Sh65 billion.

According to the PS, as of the end of January 2024, the student population had risen by one million, posing a significant challenge to government funding.

“We need to increase the blocked figure of around Sh65 billion because when it was capped at Sh65 billion, our secondary school student population was at 3.2 million. As of January 2024, we had 4.2 million students in our secondary schools, but the amount that's continued to be given is between Sh64 billion and Sh65 billion," he said.

Additionally, he said the government will disburse capitation funds owed to public secondary schools within the next 10 days.

He disclosed that the government has allocated Sh65 billion for free secondary education capitation, with 25 per cent of this amount set to be released immediately.