It Is Not Easy to Fund Free Education: Government Says.
The government, through education CS Ezekiel Machogu, has issued a statement indicating that it is experiencing challenges in fully funding education programs. Officials from the Ministry of Education foresee a crisis if prompt action is not taken in allocating more funds through the supplementary budget.
While appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Education, Basic Education permanent secretary Belio Kipsang indicated that the ministry is in talks with the National Treasury concerning a Sh22 billion budgetary deficit that is essential for the effective running of learning institutions.
However, according to the committee chairman, Julius Melly, Dr. Kipsang is highly bureaucratic and does not respond to questions concerning the source of the funds; hence, he fails to give the general public an accurate picture.
Various education stakeholders argue that there is a recent increase in enrollment rates, which the government has not matched with increasing the level of funding.
Mr Melly continued questioning why Kipsang was not telling the public their commitment of Sh16,000 per student and instead assured them that the government would provide Sh22,244.
In addition, he accused the PS of being afraid to tell the masses that the government can only provide Sh16,000. He urged the PS to gather the courage to state whether there is money.
It is important to note that the ministry’s budgetary allocations currently stand at Sh22,244 per student for academics as per the Free Day Secondary Education Program. However, due to the harsh economic crisis the government is undergoing, this has been reduced to a mere Sh16,428.
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According to statistical projections, the ministry expects 2024 to have nearly 4.2 million students. With the current level of funding, this will translate to a reduction in capitation to Sh15476 per student.
As a result, the Education CS Ezekiel Machogu is urging the committee of the House to ensure that they intervene and that schools receive funding at the appropriate rate.
According to CS Machogu, government financing has continually fallen short of expectations, with many schools going through significant financial challenges. As a result, the ministry has no option but to divide the available funds with all students.
In line with these sentiments, the PS for Basic Education Belio Kipsang has highlighted that the department has received a supplementary budget of Sh8.9 billion, which still falls short of the needs of schools nationwide.
Kipsang argues that the ministry intends to build 3000 classrooms this year, consuming a total of Sh3.38 billion. However, he argues that this is now the responsibility of the Constituency Development Fund to carry out this program.
It Is Not Easy to Fund Free Education: Government Says.