Day, special schools win big in govt subsidy
Wednesday November 15 2017
Students sit for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination on November 3, 2017. The subsidy is projected to raise the education budget to more than Ksh60 billion ($600 million). PHOTO FILE | NATION
Parents of students in secondary boarding schools in Kenya will not get as much benefit from school fee subsidy programme by the government as earlier expected.
In the school fees details released by the Ministry of Education, the state has increased the capitation fund for secondary boarding schools by Ksh10,000 ($100) to Ksh22,244 ($222) to be paid directly to the school, leaving the parent to pay Ksh53,554($535) — almost equal to what they were paying before.
The biggest beneficiary of the government subsidy among the 2.72 million students, will be those in day and special needs secondary schools.
Parents with children in day secondary schools will not pay fees from January as the government will pay Ksh22,244 ($222) per year for each student, up from the current Ksh12,870 ($128).
Special needs secondary education schools, which cater for learners with impairment will require students to pay Ksh10,790 ($107), down from Ksh37,210 ($372) while the government will now pay Ksh57,974 ($580) up from Ksh32,600($326).
The government has also taken over the payment of salaries for critical non-teaching staff in secondary but limited them to four workers for a one stream day school and an extra two workers for every additional stream.
Boarding schools with one stream will be allocated six non-teaching staff and an extra worker for every additional stream. A one-stream school will only have a secretary, a lab technician and three watchmen.
School nurses will be required to double up as matron and the artisans hired should be multi-skilled.
Both the ruling party Jubilee and opposition coalition Nasa had pledged in their campaign to provide free secondary education were they to be elected.
READ: Free secondary education will be major test for poll winners
The subsidy, which is targeted to increase transition rate by 100 per cent, is projected to double the current education budget to more than Ksh60 billion ($600 million).
A secondary education subsidy was introduced in 2008 to curb high dropout rates by paying Ksh10,265 ($102) per student per year towards tuition fees. Parents would have to cater for boarding and uniform requirements.
In 2014, the subsidy was increased by about 25 per cent to Ksh12,870 ($128).
The capitation will be allocated to schools according to the number of students captured in the National Education Management Information System, says Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang.