Seventy-two secondary schools missed capitation because they did not acknowledge receipt of the previous disbursement.

The government released Sh24 billion in capitation two weeks ago.

Director of secondary schools in the Education ministry Paul Kibet said on Tuesday principals should adhere to the laid out guidelines for smooth running of schools.

Once schools get the money, they should acknowledge receipt through the National Education Management Information System (Nemis), for them to be factored in for subsequent capitation.

“Some 72 schools did not acknowledge receipt of the capitation released for January and July last year,” Kibet said.

This is despite the Education ministry issuing a circular in July last year, specifically requesting principals to adhere to the guidelines provided.

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He spoke at the 46th Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association annual national conference at Sheikh Zayed Hall in Mombasa on Tuesday.

By January, 3,000 secondary schools had not acknowledged receipt of the capitation funds for July last year.

The result of non-acknowledgement, apart from missing out on the subsequent capitation, is the ministry assuming that the schools are illegally extorting funds from parents to run the schools.

“Because how then are you operating if you do not get the money from the ministry? It means that you have not received the money and since you are not complaining, you are getting this money from somewhere. Most likely the parents are paying this which is an illegality,” Kibet said.

He also cautioned principals and schools’ boards of management against expelling students without informing the County Education Boards.

The Education Guidelines of 2015 for handling indiscipline in schools stipulate that should a school’s board of management arrive at a decision to expel a student for indiscipline, that decision should be communicated to the County Education Board within two days.

After the lapse of two days, the BoM’s decision becomes null and void if it was not communicated to the County Education Board.

“The County Education Board has the right to instruct the supposedly expelled student to report back to school and action could be taken against that school,” Kibet said.

He said informing the County Education Board protects the school from any legal redress.

“Please, adhere to such simple procedures,” Kibet told the principals.

The ministry also noted that some deputy principals are executing mandates that they do not have like suspending students.

Powers to suspend a student lies solely with the principal and cannot be delegated.

Even the principal cannot suspend the student unless the board of management approves that decision.

“We have a case where a student was suspended indefinitely. That is an illegality,” Kibet said.

He noted that when such a case is brought to the ministry, the decision will be to instruct the student to report back to school immediately regardless of the crime the student committed.

“Do not introduce rules that are not approved by the BoM. These rules must also be subjected to public participation before they are approved and applicable,” Kibet said, adding that principals should not assume certain actions are acceptable because they had been used before.

For instance, most schools ask students who sneak out of school to come back with a roll of barbed wire despite that not being in the school’s approved rules and regulations.

Some schools also allow transfer of students mid-year, which is wrong, Kibet said.

Transfers, according to the Education Guidelines of 2015, should be done at the end of the year.

This is to make it easy to reconcile the books.

In some cases, parents demand for refund after they transfer their students from one school to another in the second term.

For communication with the Education ministry, principals must quote their Unique Identifier Code (UIC), also known as the Nemis Code.

This helps identify the particular school that is communicating because some schools have common names which may be confusing.

Kibet also urged principals to appraise themselves with all the legal instruments available to them or which might be used against them.

These include the Children’s Act, the Public Health Act, the Public Finance Management Act, in addition to the normal TSC Act and the Basic Education Act.

Secondary school heads have threatened to close schools due to continued delay in the disbursement of capitation funds which has crippled the running of schools countrywide

Most of them expressed fear of going to school and lace debtors who supplied the schools with food, stationery and other materials including repairers and contractors

We have been forced to spend our meagre salaries to run the schools but it seems the funds are still far away,” said one principal on condition of anonymity.

A day school principal narrated how he decided to skip one school day to avoid lacing a hardware owner who lent him Ksh600,000 to buy food for school

“l used the money to pay the most nagging food suppliers and payment of the support staff to buy some time, for at least a week but the problem is still here, “he said.

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It has been revealed that most schools in Kenya have not taken part in the second term ball games due to lack of funds.

Their urgent concerns follow the promise by Education CS Ezekiel Machogu who said that schools would receive the funds in their accounts by Friday, June 2.

The principals called on Machogu to issue a statement regarding the delay before matters worsened in schools.

A Sh22.2 billion budget shortfall is threatening the successful implementation of Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE), leaving nearly one million learners without funding in the next financial year.

The shortfall comes despite a Sh964 million increase in the capitation grant for the programme, which funds all learners in public secondary schools.

Appearing before the National Assembly’s Education Committee yesterday, Principal Secretary for Basic Education Belio Kipsang said the current enrolment of 3,938,109 learners at a rate of Sh22,244 per learner in secondary schools gives a total requirement of Sh87.6 billion. However, the proposed allocation in the 2023-24 budget for FDSE is Sh65.4 billion.

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“This leaves 998,620 learners outside the FDSE programme. We need an additional Sh22.213 billion to fully cover these learners. Even though we say we are funding at Sh22,244 per learner, we’re not telling the full story,” said Dr Kipsang.

His revelation comes at a time when secondary school principals have been complaining about delayed payment of capitation grants, which, they say, has made running schools difficult.

The State Department of Basic Education has been allocated Sh135.48 billion, comprising Sh15.773 billion for recurrent expenditure and Sh19.707 billion for development. The total allocation represents a net increase of Sh5.018 billion from Sh130.462 billion.

Dr Kipsang told MPs that the budget for Free Primary Education (FPE) has been maintained at Sh12.4 billion even with seven classes in primary school, which will be further reduced to six next year as the introduction of Junior Secondary School (JSS) takes root.

This, he explained, was to increase the per capita allocation for learners in primary schools, which has remained at Sh1,420 since the programme was introduced in 2003.

Dr Kipsang said the allocation for JSS was inadequate as the new segment will have two grades (Seven and Eight). It has a funding gap of Sh17.63 billion. The requirement for JSS is Sh33 billion but only Sh15.5 billion has been allocated.

Grade Eight will accommodate 1,074,709 learners promoted from Grade Seven. At a per pupil rate of Sh15,042, the total requirement is Sh16.166 billion. The Ministry of Education tops up the capitation grant for learners with special needs at the rate of Sh35,730. There are 15,686 learners with special needs in Grade Seven, bringing the requirement to Sh565.9 million.

Over 1.3 million more learners will join JSS in January. They will require a capital of Sh15.776 billion to cater for Grades One and Two. The ministry also intends to spend Sh3.38 billion to improve infrastructure in JSS.

Education CS Ezekiel Machogu has clarified a move by the government to scrap the subsidy on secondary school fees.

Machogu while speaking at Wajir High school on Wednesdays said the move was occasioned by a return to normalcy in the school calendar.

“From January 23, we will have three terms the way it used to be before so the fees structure remains the same as that of two years ago,” Machogu said.

This is after a circular addressed to senior education officials indicated the changes in school fees.

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“Anybody saying the figure has been changed, that is not here in Kenya. Changing school fees would need another taskforce,” he said.

Due to the compressed school calendar which was occasioned by Covid-19, the ministry had reduced fees by Sh8,500.

According to a circular from the ministry, parents will have to pay Sh53,554 for national schools, as was before the reduction.

This will apply to national and extra county schools in seven counties.

The new guidelines were written to all county directors of education and signed by early learning and basic education PS Julius Jwan.

“The counties are Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyeri, Thika and Eldoret,” the circular reads.

The new directive applies to boarding schools.

The ministry has also categorized the schools into category B.

Here, the government will provide an Sh22,244 subsidy which is equal for learners in a day school.

“In order to meet the cost of boarding as well as maintenance and improvement parents will pay Sh40,535,” the circular reads.

Currently, national Schools pay Sh45,054 while the Extra County and County schools pay Sh35,035.

Extra county and county schools would pay Sh5,500 less.

The Ministry of Education yesterday issued strict guidelines to ensure Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) funds are properly utilised.

Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan directed County Directors or Education (CDEs) to ensure proper utilisation of the funds as the academic calendar reverts to the normal 39 weeks from 30 that had been set in the revised system.

Jwan said the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) must be used at all times during admission and transfer of students.

“It is the responsibility of the PS to ensure accuracy of the data available on NEMIS where every eligible learner is fully registered on the platform,” said the PS, in a circular to CDEs dated November 15.

The PS also states that transfer of students should be avoided in the course of the academic year and may only be sanctioned by the Director General under special circumstances.

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He said funds will be disbursed using data available on NEMIS at the time of disbursement.

The PS warned that schools that receive government subsidy for students above the enrollment will be penalised and the principal surcharged for loss of public resources as provided in the Public Finance Act, 2012.

“Principals should ensure that schools’ records on NEMIS are accurate at all times by regularly updating these records. Changes in information on school bank accounts will only be done at the Ministry’s headquarters. Request for change should be generated by the school and forwarded by the Sub-County Director of Education to Director Secondary Education,” the PS directed.

Given that the academic calendar will revert to 39 weeks from January, the PS said that parents will continue to pay approved fees for various category of schools.

He, however, said the government will continue to offer free day schooling, which amounts to Sh22,244 for each learner.

For National and Extra county boarding schools located in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyeri, Thika and Eldoret, Jwan said the government will provide a subsidy for each learner equal to that of each in day schools.

Parents will then pay boarding fees in order to meet costs of learners as well as for maintenance and improvement.

For this category of schools, parents will continue to pay Sh53,554, which brings the total to Sh75,798 annually for each when the government tops up with subsidy of Sh22,244.

For other categories including county and sub-county schools, parents will be required to pay Sh40,535 while the government tops up with Sh22,244 for each learner to give an annual fee of Sh62,779.

Regarding special needs schools, he said, the government will provide an enhanced capitation of Sh57,974 per learner, which includes a subsidy of Sh23,220 for boarding equipment and stores and a top up grant of Sh12,510 to cater for assistive devices and any additional personnel needed.

Parents with learners in special needs schools will then be required to top up Sh12,790.

Enrollment data to be used for provision of government subsidy will be obtained from NEMIS in tranches, the first being next month by December 15, second tranche by March 31 while the third by June 30 next year.

Jwan said accountability and smooth implementation is expected in school accounts.

For tuition account, he said banking of the money and all payments to this effect should strictly be made by cheques, adding that funds in these accounts must be utilised for procurement of teaching and learning materials only.

Operations account will be used to bank all government subsidies except the tuition and infrastructure funds, while school infrastructure account is for infrastructure grants from Government and Maintenance and Improvement.

Boarding account, said the PS is for banking funds paid by parents for boarding related expenses while a saving account is for funds from boarding account cash book that cannot be put to immediate use.

Education cabinet secretary George Magoha has dismissed calls for Government to give private schools capitation, saying it is entirely up to parents to pay.
“Those in private schools must pay.There has been a little noise about capitation to private schools but that is not going to happen. The Constitution allows us to provide FDSE,” the CS said.

“If you choose a boarding school, you must know that there will be requirements to pay for boarding and feeding. That is why the Government got only needy students from the slums and gave them Elimu scholarship, which is supposed to go for four years,” he noted.
“ We have said that any child who selects a private school must first confirm with their parents. That is why we have roped them,” Magoha added.

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He also maintained that it is entirely up to a parent to make choices, saying the ministry has only issued guidelines for JSS selection but the decision stands with learners and their parents.
“Even in the current situation, some parents do not follow guidelines. You find them selecting top schools like Kenya High several times and do not select anything else,” he said.
Magoha reiterated that for JSS, a majority of the learners are expected to be in day schools near their homes.
“CBC will be a great success of the outgoing government. You have seen the passion we have had and hope the incoming Government will continue with the classroom drive in the next one year then there will be no problems,” Magoha said.

The Ministry of Education has sought a change in the alignment of school financial year for public secondary schools to correspond with the government’s financial year.

Currently, the schools’ financial year runs from 1^st January – 31^st December. Through a circular, the ministry of education has directed the change of schools’ financial year from January 1- December 31 to July 1- June 30 which is the government’s financial year.

The new fiscal changes demand that Public secondary schools release their financial statements at the end of the financial year through the International Public Sector Accounting standards financial template.

“Therefore, the school’s financial reporting period shall be from July 1 to June 30 effective from June 30 this year,” the circular reads.

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The circular further directs schools that have already released financial statements for the financial year ending December 31 to prepare six months of financial statements up from January 1 to June 30 this year.

Schools that have not submitted their financial statements for the financial year ending December 31 2020 are asked to prepare statements from January 1 to June 30.

The reports are to be submitted in conformity with the financial reporting template to be obtained from the National Treasury, Ministry of Education, Teachers Service Commission’s websites.

This directive seeks to allow the quarter a year audit conducted in government to trickle down to public secondary schools.

According to the circular signed by Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan, school heads should ensure that financial statements are ready by September 30.

According to the school academic calendar, the current school financial year starts on January 1 and ends on December 31,

This contradicts Section 87 of the Basic Education Act, 2013 which states that” the financial year of the department of education shall be the government financial year.”

What this implies is that Projects funded by the government that will not be completed by June 30^th will end up with insufficient funds since the National Treasury will recall any balances. Schools will also be subjected to quarterly audits within the financial year.

According to the ministry, the new financial template will promote uniformity, transparency, and accountability for capitation and other resources at the schools.

The National Treasury which is mandated with setting accounting standards approved the use of the new financial template (IPSAS).