200,000 Secondary School Students Deprived of Government Funding Due to NEMIS Data Inaccuracy
More than two hundred thousand secondary school students have not received government funding despite attending classes and eating.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu stunned MPs when he disclosed that approximately 212,300 secondary school students have not received capitation for “some time now.”
He attributed this to inadequacies in the government’s National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) in capturing student information.
This trend, according to Machogu, may persist for a while until the complete and accurate details of these students are captured.
He cited controversies and inconsistencies surrounding learners’ birth certificates as the reason why some learners rely on their peers’ capitation funds.
In some instances, according to Machogu, learners share birth certificate serial numbers, which raises questions about the accuracy and completeness of NEMIS data.
In some instances, birth certificates are missing, according to Machogu, resulting in incomplete registration of students’ information in the government system.
This results in these students nourishing and utilizing the resources of other students whose data have been captured and who are receiving government capitation.
On Tuesday, the heads of secondary schools disclosed that thousands of students are burdened by those who receive capitation, another factor that contributes to financial crises in schools.
The heads, through the chairman of their associations, Kahi Indimuli, stated that schools are compelled to maintain students in school at the expense of others.
‘‘We continue keeping the students in schools because learners cannot send them away because the mistake of funding may not be of their making. They have to feed on the same food of those who have been funded,’’ Indimuli said.
The challenge, according to Indimuli, boils down to schools with limited populations that are compelled to reduce the ratio of service delivery to students.
“Imagine having 200 unfunded students in a 500-student day school with no other source of funding besides capitation,” he stated.
Further, according to Indimuli, schools continue to incur debts for services rendered to students due to government errors.
There is an issue with the distribution of birth certificates and serial numbers. If they decentralize the issuance of these documents, there must be a method to associate serial numbers with the counties where these services are provided. Indimuli said.
Last week in Parliament, Machogu stated that funding for some schools is contingent on the number of learners who are completely registered in the government database.
The ministry provides capitation to students who are entirely registered on NEMIS, i.e., who have birth certificates and parental information.
Due to the fact that some students are enrolled in school but are not completely registered on NEMIS, there is a risk of inadequate funding in some schools,“ Machogu said.
He clarified that all students are registered, but only those with the necessary documentation are completely registered and granted access to government services.
‘‘The NEMIS allows for the registration of both learners with and without birth certificates. Those with birth certificates are fully registered while those without birth certificates are partially registered,’’ he stated.
Mary Emase, a member of Parliament for Teso, demanded that the Secretary of State (CS) enumerate the steps that have been taken to ensure that children from low-income families who cannot afford the lunch fee programme remain in school and receive nutritious meals.
Emase stated that the leadership of Junior Secondary institutions is obligated to ensure that no child is expelled for failure to pay lunch fees, which in most institutions amount to Sh15,000.
Parents are responsible for providing their children at school, according to Machogu, who noted that the capitation only represents tuition fees.
‘‘The capitation that is currently available under the Junior Secondary programme is limited to the tuition component,’’ Machogu said.
200,000 Secondary School Students Deprived of Government Funding Due to NEMIS Data Inaccuracy
