Parents to pay for school buildings

Parents have been asked to meet the costs of providing laboratories, classrooms, libraries and dormitories in schools in a move that could deal a body blow to the free primary education programme.

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi Wednesday said parents with children in primary school should seek support for the provision of infrastructure from various other sources.

“The government allocation of funds to the Education ministry for infrastructure is inadequate and it is recommended that schools use the money for rehabilitation, rather than development of new infrastructure,” said Prof Kaimenyi in a statement to the Parliamentary Committee on Education chaired by Mr Julius Melly (Tinderet).

The cabinet secretary said the government did not allocate any funds for infrastructure development in primary schools this financial year while in the last financial year it provided only Sh135 million.

“Schools to benefit from infrastructure support are recommended by the relevant sub-county education boards while the ministry allocates funds by prioritising dilapidated physical facilities,” said Prof Kaimenyi.

He, however, said the free primary education programme had received a boost as the allocation for each pupil had been increased from Sh1,020 to Sh1,420.

“Of this amount, Sh765 is for instructional materials and Sh655 for general school operations and maintenance,” he said.

Prof Kaimenyi said the government encouraged school heads to undergo further training on financial management and procurement procedures.

EXAMINATION FEES

Meanwhile, the minister reiterated that all Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination fees will now be paid by the government from next year.

According to the ministry of Education sector report for 2014, the free primary education programme resulted in an increase in school enrolment from 8.8 million in 2011 to 10.1 million in 2013.

Pupil completion rate remained above 75 per cent during the period with transition from primary to secondary increasing from 66.9 per cent in 2012 to 73.3 per cent in 2013.

The report says the government used Sh10 billion to support 9.1 million pupils in public primary schools in the 2013/2014 financial year.

It, however. said the ministry is facing deficit of Sh20 billion in the next financial year, threatening some of its activities.

Some of these include promotion of teachers, financing of existing and new universities, university colleges, teacher training colleges, procurement of sanitary towels and curriculum review, among others.

Education Principal Secretary Bellio Kipsang said the ministry requires about Sh344 billion in the next financial year in which Sh42 billion will go towards development expenditure while Sh300 billion will be spent on recurrent expenditure.

However, the ceiling was set at Sh323 billion, with Sh288 billion going towards recurrent expenditure and Sh35 billion to development.