Schools start sending children home over free education cash crunch

Some of Kenya's schools started sending children home on Tuesday as the crisis over free education funds continued to bite.

The reports from Rift Valley province came as the government tried to fend off bitter criticism over its failure to disburse funds for the first term.

Education permanent secretary Karega Mutahi could still not say when the funds, delayed for three months, would be released even as Nation reliably learnt that the cash was not immediately available. “We assure school management committees and boards that the government will shortly release the funds,” was all he could say.

Hardest hit

Secondary school heads and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) urged the government to release the funds immediately or spell out alternative ways of running the schools.

They criticised Prof Mutahi’s disclosure on Monday that funds for educating 10 million primary and secondary school children had been diverted to buy food.

Knut secretary-general Lawrence Majali accused the government of neglecting education, saying there were other less important sectors whose funds could have been diverted to buy food.“The government is creating an unnecessary crisis, which will mess up our future generation. Education officials must immediately send the money to schools,” he said.]

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman Cleophas Tirop said day schools would be the hardest hit. “I urge the authorities to give priority to day schools, which fully depend on the free allocations,” he said.

He also urged the government to review the concept of free secondary school if it was finding it difficult to implement.

On Monday, Prof Mutahi announced that further delays should be expected in the disbursement of at least Sh10 billion for the first term “because more than Sh37 billion has been spent in purchasing food”.

Pressed when the funds would be released, he could not tell since “I am only a recipient.” “It is a question that we should not be asking now given the magnitude of the food shortage in the country,” he said.

The government pays fees for 8.2 million children in primary schools and 1.3 million in secondary schools. “We expect a delay but we hope it would be for a short time,” he told journalists.

On Tuesday, Rift Valley Knut representative Sammy Bor said the delay was a big disappointment and cases of children dropping out of school would rise.    

In Koibatek District, seven of the 41 public secondary schools have sent students on half term break.

Area Knut executive secretary Stanley Kiptis said Poror Day Secondary School was the latest to send its students home and said parents might be forced to dig into their pockets to keep their children in school.