Teachers threaten to strike over delayed school capitation
Teachers threaten to strike over delayed school capitation
Teachers threaten to strike over delayed school capitation
The school funding plan has been questioned by the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), since it has resulted in a deficit that is now endangering the functioning of the institution.
Kuppet has given the government seven days to release the money that is owed to the schools.The union pointed out that instead of the Sh11,122 anticipated for the first term, the government has only released Sh3,877 in capitation to schools.
On Wednesday, Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori stated that because of the delayed payment of capitation, which has been drastically reduced, head teachers have been the target of mockery and allegations of inadequate leadership.
“The union is disturbed that the government has decided to institute cuts in spending in education and this negates on the principle of free education which is compulsory,” he stated.
Misori said that the situation has seen suppliers take some schools to court over pending bills.The crisis in the education sector could escalate after Kuppet warned of a possible teachers strike when schools reopen for second term.
The union is considering paralysing the reopening of institutions if the government fails to disburse capitation.Should the union make good its threat, it will be the first time teachers will be downing their tools in nearly a decade.The last strike was in 2015.
Headteachers and Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) last week raised concern over the crisis in the education sector saying that the government had only provided a fraction of capitation funds for the first term.
Dr Kipsang on Monday was hard-pressed to explain to Members of Parliament when schools will be receive the capitation balance.
‘‘We have released 25 per cent… in the next 10 days we should have released the resources,’’ he said while appearing before the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly to reply to audit queries.
Misori questioned why the government is yet to restore monies previously used to provide students with a medical cover even after it was discontinued in January.
He said that the money allocated to Edu-Afya should be ploughed back to schools.
The Kuppet secretary-general lamented that the ministry retains funds for co-curricular activities, infrastructure development and Cemastea, for purchase of science and mathematics equipment greatly reducing capitation funds.
‘‘Our plea is to the President to protect the Constitution, which guarantees every learner free, compulsory education,’’ Misori said.
The Ministry of Education on Monday acknowledged that had a Sh22 billion shortfall, attributed to stagnant funding for the past six years despite a surging student population.
The allocation, according to the PS caters to only 3.2 million students, a stark contrast to the actual enrollment of 4.2 million.
To bridge the gap, the PS said the ministry has been forced to slash capitation from Sh22,224 to about Sh17,000.
Schools now receive Sh5,000 less in capitation funding year, putting the program’s viability in jeopardy.
But a static budget for education is at the core of the problem.According to Kipsang, for the previous six years, the government has been paying capitation at a fixed amount of Sh54 billion.
He stated that by the end of the year, the shortfall should have decreased by half in order to solve the financing deficiencies.According to the PS, the secondary school financing situation would decrease from the present Sh22 billion to roughly Sh11 billion with the departure of the 2024 KCSE candidates in November and the end of Form One admission.
“Remember we shall not be having a Form One class so the underfunding will go down to about Sh11 billion and that is what Education Committee is trying to ensure is taken care of in this 2024/2025 financial year,” he stated. Kipsang stated that after discussions with the National Assembly Committee on Education, the remaining shortfall will be covered by the budget allocation for 2024–2025. Omboko Milemba, the chairman of Kuppet, requested that the government provide its case for complete capitation to Parliament so that lawmakers could address the shortfall.
“It is good that this is coming up right now because the ministry has a chance to send the deficit ahead of the supplementary budget one to cater for the balance, and I will take this up in parliament,” he said.
To filter out ghost students, Milemba demanded an assessment of the enrollment in public schools.
“Up to today, there is no explanation on how 900 students registered for KCSE but could not be found during the examination period, we need a through audit to align the number of learners with the capitation provided,” he stated.
The Kuppet chairman also mentioned how some schools are disadvantaged by the education management system, Nemis, since some pupils’ names are not listed in the system that is used to distribute funds.
