Poor Funding Model Fuels Crisis in Schools, Administrators Warn
The current crisis in schools is a result of a flawed funding model, according to school administrators.
Principals contend that the quarterly disbursement of funds cripples school operations and forces them to incur enormous debts.
The government continues to withhold a portion of the quarterly payment. Kahi Indimuli, chairman of the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha), said, “ That is why we are having it rough and we hope the ministry will revert to the former ratio of 50:30:20 funding mode.”
As the present funding model is a ticking time bomb, the school administrators advocated for a change to termly disbursements.
Indimuli, who is also the principal of Machakos Boys High School, added that funding at 25% will limit the ability of school administrators to govern their institutions.
According to Indimuli, there is a looming crisis with uncertain outcomes. He expressed concerns over the lack of clarity regarding the funding allocation for either the previous or upcoming term, as well as the percentage of funding that may be received.
Indimuli explained that schools operate on a semester basis with varying activity schedules and expenditures.
“Each term has a different number of weeks with variable activities to be financed. In the second term we have ball games, music, sports as well as the academic calendar that needs facilitation,” he added.
As opposed to the Sh28 billion promised, the government released Sh24 billion to schools as capitation to finance tuition on Thursday.
This amount was allocated as follows: Sh15,618,220,509 for the financing of free Day Secondary Schools, Sh4,630,548,845 for primary schools, and Sh3,812,377,184 for Junior Secondary Schools.
This occurred after the final disbursement of Sh18 billion on January 26 of this year to settle the third term obligations of the previous year. As soon as the money is disbursed, according to Indimuli, a circular should be issued outlining how it should be spent.
He stated that they hailed the government for responding, but expressed more confusion. He suggested that there should be a circular to guide principals on how to spend the money, rather than waiting to issue it after they have already spent it.
Johnson Nzioka, the chairman of the Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (Kepsha), stated that when schools carry a balance into the next fiscal year, they lose the money.
“The government never funds backwards and this continues to contribute to the challenges we are facing. We expected 50 per cent of last term and 30 per cent for this term. Look at where we are,’’ said Nzioka.
According to Nzioka, the government was supposed to release funds for infrastructure development in Junior Secondary Schools, but these funds have not yet been released.
In the previous school year, Education Permanent Secretary Belio Kipsang expressed concern over the sustainability of the Free Day Secondary school program, citing the fact that nearly one million students in day secondary schools will not receive the government capitation.
While a minimum of Sh88 billion is required for the Free Day Secondary programme, the government has only allocated Sh65.5 billion, leaving a shortfall of Sh24.5 billion, according to the PS.
According to the P.S., many schools are struggling, and the government should assist in preventing their operations from collapsing.
Kipsang stated that the areas identified as crucially underfunded were essential for fulfilling their mandate. He indicated a need for an additional allocation of Sh42.043 billion and Sh1 billion under the recurrent and development budgets, respectively.
However, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has urged schools to commercialize a portion of their institution’s assets in order to generate revenue and remain solvent.
Currently, schools generate additional revenue by renting out vehicles, school grounds, auditoriums, and swimming pools to other schools and the general public.
Poor Funding Model Fuels Crisis in Schools, Administrators Warn
