News
Government runs out of cash for free school
The headmaster of Tononoka Boys Secondary School Mahaja Beja (right) argues with some of the school's students as they were protesting outside their school after they were allegedly overcharged when paying their national examination fees. They were demanding a refund of at least Sh4,500. Schools have been hit by a cash crisis after money was diverted to import maize. Photo/GIDEON MAUNDU
Posted Monday, March 9 2009 at 21:38
In Summary
- Money spent on food, says PS as teachers demand to start levying fees
The free education programme could be paralysed after the government said it did not have the Sh10 billion needed for the first term of 2009.
The money, Education permanent secretary Karega Mutahi said on Monday, had been spent to import food because of the current drought.
Asked when the money would be available, Prof Mutahi said he did not know.
“It is a question we should not be asking now given the magnitude of the food shortage in the country,” he said.
Charge fees
Already, headmasters are asking the government to allow them to charge fees.
The government pays fees for 8.2 million children in primary schools Another 1.3 million students are enrolled in secondary schools.
Some Sh37 billion has been diverted from programmes such as education to import food, the PS said.
“We expect a delay for a while, but we hope it would be for a short period,” he told journalists at Nairobi’s Kenya Institute of Education where he represented the Education minister at a meeting with development partners to discuss the education budget.
However, an Agriculture ministry official said they had only been given Sh10 billion for the importation of maize.
The minister’s announcement will be bad news for schools which have not received a coin since they reopened in January.
Two weeks ago, the ministry said it would not be releasing funds to buy textbooks, apparently because schools had bought the required stocks.
Many schools buy learning materials on credit and pay when the ministry releases the funds. Learning in schools which decide not to run up debts is likely to be affected by shortages.
On Monday, Prof Mutahi said he hoped headteachers would use the cash sent to them in December to run their schools. But some of the headmasters said the money had long been spent.
Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman Cleophas Tirop said schools were facing a financial crisis and many have debts while some do not have learning and teaching materials.
“We are finding it difficult to run schools without funds from the government,” he said.
“We are urging the Education minister to make a statement or ask parents to pay full school fees.”
Each of the 1.3 million students in secondary school is allocated Sh10,265 under the free day school learning programme.
RSS