Nairobi — President William Ruto has cautioned school managers against exploiting parents on the pretext of delayed capitation.
Ruto, speaking during a church service in Teso, Busia County, said the government had released capitation and funding for bursaries totaling Sh62 billion to support education.
"Listen from me, the government of Kenya has this January released Sh62 billion inclusive of Sh10 billion for the bursaries to all required institutions, be it Primary school, Secondary school, University schools and Tertiary," he said.
Ruto said the government was keen to ensure access to education for every Kenyan child, warning school managers who sabotage the government's plan of sanctions.
"I want to tell those managers in the education sector not to take advantage of parents on false accounts of government having released no money," he said.
"I want to state here categorically, we have released Sh62 billion to our primary schools, to our secondary schools, to our TVET Institutions including money for bursaries to our members of parliament," Ruto explained.
President Ruto said funding set aside for bursaries will target students from humble backgrounds struggling to settle school fees.
Bursaries available
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah echoed President Ruto's sentiments saying the National Treasury had released funding under the National Government Constituency Development Funding (NG-CDF) to support bursaries.
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He dismissed reports of an expected hike in school fees due to inadequate capitation.
"There have been some rumors that the school fees will rise due to lack of capitation in schools. I want to say Treasury has already disbursed the money," he said.
The Ministry of Education confirmed the exchequer had released school capitation on January 8 amid uproar over delayed funding.
"I would want to assure our schools, assure our head teachers, assure our principals that yes, we have released capitations," Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang during the release of 2023 KCPE examination results.
PS Kipsang said the ministry had facilitated the payment for all KCSE examiners.
"We have released your resources, I know KNEC finalized today morning. The resources will be on your point of payment by today. This is the first time that we are paying our professional during the release of exams," he said.
