Murang’a: Secondary school heads have decried the delayed disbursement of government capitation, saying the funding gaps have disrupted daily operations and compromised the quality of education across the country. Speaking to the press at a Murang’a hotel on Monday, Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) Secretary General Abdinoor Haji said the persistent delays in disbursing capitation funds have crippled school operations.

According to Kenya News Agency, the funding gaps have negatively affected student performance, as evidenced by a steady rise in the number of grade E results in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) over the past three years. ‘Day schools are the most affected because they depend solely on government capitation. The funding shortfall limits their ability to offer quality education,’ Haji noted. He added that the delayed funds have made it difficult to pay suppliers, forcing school heads into constant hide-and-seek with creditors.

He observed that in some cases, schools have been forced to lay off teachers employed by Boards of Management (BOM), leading to higher student-teacher ratios and overcrowded classrooms. Co-curricular activities have also been severely affected, he said, denying students opportunities to develop talents and skills outside the classroom. Haji urged the government to fulfil its financial commitments by disbursing full capitation on time, warning that continued delays would further erode the quality of education.

KESSHA Chairman Willy Kuria echoed the concerns, warning that the delayed capitation is contributing to what he termed ‘the silent collapse of secondary education’. ‘The financial constraints are making it difficult for schools to meet even the most basic operational needs, and day secondary schools are bearing the brunt of this crisis,’ Kuria said. He revealed that in 2025, the expected capitation for both first and second terms has not been fully disbursed.

‘In the first term, we expected Sh11,122 per student, but only Sh8,818 was released. In the second term, out of the expected Sh6,673, only Sh3,471 has been disbursed,’ he said. ‘For this year alone, the government has withheld Sh 5,506 per student, bringing the total outstanding amount to over Sh 18 billion,’ he added. Kuria also highlighted the dire situation in special needs schools, saying they have been severely affected by delays in the disbursement of grants and grant-in-aid funds.

‘Each special needs student is supposed to receive Sh35,370, but the full amount is rarely disbursed,’ he said. He further called for an urgent review of the current capitation rate of Sh22,244, saying it has not been adjusted in over seven years despite rising inflation and operational costs. With just two weeks left before the end of the second term, Kuria warned that continued delays could disrupt learning and essential services such as electricity and water, potentially forcing some schools to close earlier than scheduled.