Nairobi — The Ministry of Education will now be pushed to revise the capitation of primary schools upwards following a resolution by the National Assembly seeking to increase the capitation per pupil to cater for School Feeding Programmes.
In the motion proposed by Gatanga MP Edward Muriu which was passed by legislators, he argued that the current capitation is inadequate violates the provisions of Article 27 of the Constitution, and slows down the attainment of universal basic education in Kenya.
The resolution of the house seeks to increase the allocation per student from the Sh1,420 per year to at least Sh7,760, to factor in the new CBC education system and the prevailing high cost of living.
"The government must provide capitation and that capitation must provide must capture not only provide quality education but learning materials must include the feeding program in our primary, secondary and ECDE education," said Muriu.
The motion has given authority to the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) board to extend support to learners in Primary and Junior Secondary Schools to cater for Competency-Based Curriculum requirements.
The NG-CDF Board in each Constituency will now be required to approve additional allocation to the education bursary scheme in order to Support teaching and learning-related activities associated with CBC education including School Feeding Programmes.
The Gatanga MP asserted that the cost of education for the CBC system is quite expensive which excludes access to education for primary school students as they cannot afford the basic learning requirements.
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"The impact of this will go a long way in retaining our students in primary schools and junior secondary schools. Most of our children don't come to school each day because they come hungry. Along the way it will increase the performance of our children since focus will be academic," said Muriu.
This comes even as the Nairobi County government launched a Sh1.2 billion school feeding program dubbed 'Dishi Na County' that gives nutritious meals to all school learners.
The program aims to eliminate the "shame of hunger" and provide daily lunches for scores of primary school children.
Some of the 45 schools that were tapped into the program are inclusive of Baba Dogo Primary School, Dandora primary school, Kawangware Primary School, Umoja One Primary School, Ushirika primary school, Gatina Primary school, Olympic, Raila Education Centre, among others.
Pupils from Early Childhood Development (ECD) and those in primary level from 309 public schools in Nairobi are expected to benefit from the Sh1.7 billion budgeted for the program.
The pupils in the program are set to get the meal at a subsidized price of Sh5 daily via USSD code *648# and every kid will be given a wrist mark (watch) known as 'tap to eat' as an indication that s/he has subscribed to the program.
