TVETs Brace for Reduced Government Funding, Says PS Esther Muoria
The Principal Secretary of the State Department for Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVETs) in Kenya, Esther Muoria, has indicated that there may be capped capitation for TVETs due to the ongoing cash crisis at the National Treasury.
Muoria stated during a speech at the Nyeri National Polytechnic that many government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) had received communication from the Treasury Cabinet Secretary warning of tough times ahead due to cash flow issues.
She noted that, similar to universities, TVETs would also be affected by proposed funding cuts, and urged heads of institutions to prepare for reduced government funding.
Kenya has a total of 2,432 public and private TVET institutions, with an estimated student population of slightly over 385,000. In the 2022/2023 Financial year, the Treasury allocated 5.2 billion Kenyan Shillings as capitation for TVET students.
Every year, students placed in TVETs by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service have access to a total of 30,000 Kenyan Shillings as capitation.
Additionally, during the same financial year, the Treasury allocated 1.8 billion Kenyan Shillings for the construction and equipping of TVETs, while 1 billion Kenyan Shillings was set aside for increasing and improving the quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Programmes.
Muoria stated that following the communication from the Treasury, TVETs will be left with no choice but to come up with projects that will make them self-sufficient. She emphasized the need for TVETs to think seriously about how they can support their institutions, as the traditional capitation funds may not be available from the Treasury.
Muoria made these statements during the launch of the Trees for TVETs campaign, which aims to partner with TVETs all over the country to set up tree nurseries in the institutions. The campaign is aligned with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s goal of planting 15 billion trees in five years, and the Ministry’s target of planting one billion trees by 2032.
As part of the campaign, each of the 30 principals from Nairobi, Mount Kenya, Northern, and Coast regions received their first batch of 10,000 seedlings and polythene potting bags from the Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI) to set up tree nurseries in their respective institutions.
Muoria urged TVETs to be proactive in finding ways to become self-sufficient and emphasized the need to move away from relying solely on capitation funds from the Treasury.
She expressed the Ministry’s commitment to supporting the President’s tree planting initiative and using TVETs as bases for distributing seeds and setting up tree nurseries to contribute to the goal of planting one billion trees in five years or less.
TVETs Brace for Reduced Government Funding, Says PS Esther Muoria
