National Assembly Education Committee Chairman Julius Melly has told the National Assembly Budget and Appropriation Committee that the Ministry of Education requires Sh29.9 billion to fund critical areas without budgetary allocation in the financial year 2025/26.

Melly told the Committee, chaired by Alego Usonga MP, Samuel Atandi, that Sh17 billion is needed to support 208,000 students expected to join various universities later in the year, and Sh7.3 billion to ensure that the current 20,000 intern teachers are absorbed into permanent terms.

He said that Sh3.7 billion is required as a matching fund to a similar figure provided by the National Government Constituency Development Fund to support school infrastructure improvement, while Sh1.9 billion is needed to bridge the current TVET instructor gap, which stands at 6,000.

“I would like to inform this committee that Examination Administration and Invigilation, which had not been provided for in the budget, has been allocated Sh5.9 billion, which assures our school-going children that they will do exams as planned this year,” said Melly.

Melly informed the committee that Sh3 billion had been reallocated from Secondary School capitation for examination and invigilation, with Sh2 billion also reallocated from the Junior School capitation for the same purpose, and Sh900 million reallocated from Primary School Capitation for examination and invigilation.

Laikipia MP Jane Kagiri asked Melly why capitation in schools had been reduced to cater for examination of which he said that in schools’ capitation cost the government Sh120 billion a year and that it was considered to have an allocation to ensure that exams were administered.

Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said that it was wrong for the ministry not to allocate money for examination in the budget, arguing that cutting down the allocation on capitation is merely postponing a problem, and that should not be done in the future.

Melly said that Sh100 million goes towards the renovation of teacher training colleges’ infrastructure, Sh100 million to support learners with special needs in secondary schools, and Sh600 million for infrastructure support for ongoing projects in Technical Training Institutes.

He told the committee that Sh804 million will go towards infrastructure support in public universities, Sh260 million for Infrastructure support to ongoing projects in National polytechnics, and Sh200 million for rehabilitation of infrastructure in secondary schools.

“Most of the universities are not doing well financially, and they have stopped new projects in the institutions of higher learning, with some of them having given fictitious pending bills since they have been operating effectively, with some running back to the nineties,” said Melly.  

Kitutu Chache North MP Japeth Nyakundi asked Melly if there were schools that received Sh87 as capitation funds, to which he denied that was true since schools had received sufficient amounts to cater for their needs, even as the funding deficit was being addressed.

Melly told legislators that the Education committee had raised concerns over the promotion of teachers who were recruited recently at the expense of some who have served for many years, stating that this should never be the case since it leads to low morale in schools.

He said that Kenya and Mauritius have textbooks at a ratio of one to one for students in school, with the government having done very well in this, while stating that the dumping of textbooks in schools that are not needed is a matter that needs to be addressed.

Melly noted that the education budget is 30 per cent of the national budget since it captures almost every household in the country, and that all the stakeholders in the sector needed to ensure that the funds allocated by the exchequer are well utilised.

The Ministry of Education has been allocated a total of Sh702 billion, with the Teachers Service Commission allocated Sh387.7 billion, Basic Education will get Sh126.1 billion, Higher Education Sh144.7 billion, Vocational Education and Training Sh42.4 billion, while the Science Innovation and Research has been allocated Sh943 million.