Education Sector Receives Sh628.6 Billion Boost in Ruto’s First Budget
President William Ruto has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta by allocating the lion’s share of his Sh3.68 trillion inaugural budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year to the Ministry of Education.
In the budget estimates that Treasury CS Njuguna Ndungu presented to Parliament on Thursday, the ministry was allocated Sh628,6 billion, or 27.4% of the total budget.
This represents an increase of Sh84.2 billion from the Sh544.4 billion allocated to the department in Uhuru’s Sh3.31 trillion budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
Ndungu stated that the ministry received the funds in order to meet the rising demands resulting from the competency-based curriculum and the need to make quality education accessible to all Kenyans.
He stated that Sh12.5 billion has been allocated for free primary education, and Sh65,4 billion for free day secondary education, which includes insurance and NHIF coverage.
Junior Secondary School has been allotted a budget of Sh25.5 billion, Sh5 billion has been allocated for the waiver of national exams, and Sh4.8 billion has been allocated to the Teachers Service Commission for the recruitment of 20,000 inter-teachers.
Ndungu stated that an additional Sh1 billion has been proposed for the promotion of teachers, Sh4.9 billion for the school nutrition program, and Sh940 million for the provision of sanitary towels.
“Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, I propose to the National Assembly a budget allocation of Sh1.3 billion for the training of teachers on Competency-Based Curriculum and Sh400 million for digital literacy and ICT integration in our secondary schools,” the CS said.
The allocation of Sh6 billion for primary and secondary school infrastructure development will also cover the construction of Junior secondary school classrooms.
In addition, the CS proposed allocating Sh1.9 billion for the construction and equipment of Technical training institutions and vocational training centers.
He stated that an additional Sh1.8 billion will be allocated to enhance vocational training institution access and training.
TSC received an additional Sh316.7 billion, university education received Sh97.5 billion, Higher Education Loans Board received Sh30.4 billion, the secondary education quality improvement initiative received Sh2.7 billion, and TVET students received a capitation of Sh5.2 billion.
In the budget for the previous fiscal year, Sh4 billion was allocated for the construction of classrooms in preparation for the first cohort of Junior secondary school students.
In the budget presented by Ndungu’s predecessor, Ukur Yatani, an additional Sh2.8 billion was allocated to support school infrastructure development in public primary and secondary institutions.
In Uhuru’s last budget, the digital literacy program was allocated Sh310 million, the TSC was given Sh2.5 billion to recruit more teachers, and Sh1.2 billion was allocated for their training on the Competency-Based Curriculum.
In addition, the TSC was allocated Sh294.7 billion, of which half was allocated to teacher compensation.
The Kenya Secondary School Education Quality Improvement project received Sh6.8 billion, while youth employment promotion received Sh971 million.
Education Sector Receives Sh628.6 Billion Boost in Ruto’s First Budget
