{"id":138629,"date":"2026-04-22T18:03:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T18:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/mps-push-for-policy-shift-to-declare-education-subsidised-as-state-admits-funding-shortfall-in-free-education-programme\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T18:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T18:03:07","slug":"mps-push-for-policy-shift-to-declare-education-subsidised-as-state-admits-funding-shortfall-in-free-education-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/mps-push-for-policy-shift-to-declare-education-subsidised-as-state-admits-funding-shortfall-in-free-education-programme\/","title":{"rendered":"MPs push for policy shift to declare education subsidised as State admits funding shortfall in free education programme"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 22 \u2013 Lawmakers are now pushing for a formal policy change to declare education subsidised rather than fully free, after the government admitted it has been unable to fully finance the free education programme.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The scenario has left more\u00a0than 1.1 million secondary school learners without capitation funding.<\/p>\n

The call came as Basic Education Principal Secretary Prof. Julius Bitok told MPs that the State has consistently disbursed less than the required funding per learner, creating a widening gap between policy commitments and actual financing of schools.<\/p>\n

Bitok revealed that although the government policy sets capitation at Sh22,044 per secondary school learner, schools have instead been receiving an average of Sh15,844.38, leaving a significant deficit that has strained operations in public schools.<\/p>\n

He further told the House that rising enrolment numbers, coupled with stagnant budget allocations, have deepened the funding crisis across basic education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that the budgetary allocations for secondary schools fall short of the submitted requirements during the years under review for schools,\u201d Prof. Bitok said.<\/p>\n

He disclosed that between the 2020\/21 and 2023\/24 financial years, underfunding across secondary schools alone amounted to more than Sh71 billion, while Junior Secondary Schools recorded a deficit of Sh31.9 billion. Primary schools and special needs education also faced significant shortfalls.<\/p>\n

At secondary level, he said underfunding rose to about Sh76.9 billion, with the funding gap widening as enrolment increased from 3.3 million learners in 2020\/21 to over 4 million in 2023\/24.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite this, the approved budget increased only marginally, resulting in a growing deficit that reached more than Sh25.8 billion by 2023\/24. The number of learners not provided for increased from 724,959 to 1,161,349,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The PS attributed the crisis to fiscal constraints and rising enrolment pressures, adding that government resources were being distributed \u201ctransparently and equitably\u201d based on available funds.<\/p>\n

However, he acknowledged systemic weaknesses in the capitation model, noting that it does not adequately reflect the real needs of schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe capitation model therefore is not equitable,\u201d he told MPs.<\/p>\n

A special audit presented to the committee further found that disparities between actual school enrolment and figures captured in the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) have also contributed to funding inaccuracies. The ministry said it is transitioning to a new system, KEMIS, to address the gaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state department concurs that there are variances between actual number of students enrolled and those registered in Nemis. The reasons for this are delayed data entry by schools, Network\/poor connectivity in rural areas, Inadequate training\/capacity gaps, Learner mobility due to transfers or absenteeism, Unregistered learners due to lack of birth certificates. Measures have been instituted to transit from Nemis to Kemis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, MPs questioned the sustainability of the free education policy in its current form and urged the government to redefine its approach.<\/p>\n

Funyula MP Wilberforce Oundo said the funding deficit left schools struggling to meet basic needs and called for a clear policy shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho foots that particular deficit of capitation? You should make a policy directive that we are not having free education but subsidised education,\u201d Oundo said.<\/p>\n

Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera argued that the value of capitation had significantly eroded over time due to inflation, saying the current funding levels were far below what was originally intended.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe capitation is actually 12,000 and not 15,000 if we factor inflation because the value of money now and when the capitation was calculated is not the same,\u201d Nabwera said.<\/p>\n

Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo drew parallels with financial pressures in higher education, calling for a broader review of unpaid obligations in schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an issue of pending bills in universities which made public institutions unsustainable. Can we have an analysis on the pending bills in secondary schools?\u201d Mugo posed.<\/p>\n

MPs are now pressing for a formal reassessment of the free education framework, arguing that the widening funding gap has effectively turned the programme into a partially subsidised system rather than a fully State-funded one.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 22 \u2013 Lawmakers are now pushing for a formal policy change to declare education subsidised rather than fully free, after the government admitted it has been unable to fully finance the free education programme. The scenario has left more\u00a0than 1.1 million secondary school learners without capitation funding. The call came as Basic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}