Secondary schools struggle as government falls short on capitation
Education
By
Boniface Gikandi
| Sep 01, 2026
Kessha chairman Willie Kuria during their 48th National annual delegates conference at Sheikh Zayed Hall in Mombasa on June 23, 2025. [File, Standard]
The secondary school head teachers have accused the state of failing to release the full capitation thus compromising the standard of education.
The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) National Chairman Willie Kuria said this year the government has disbursed only Sh14,050 per learner instead of the approved Sh22,244 per student.
The amount excludes Sh2,000 retained by the Ministry of Education to facilitate procurement of textbooks, co-curricular activities, and SMASSE.
READ MORE
Lack of finance threatens Africa's youth agroecology ambitions
Let Nairobi's next infrastructure milestone move from pilot to policy
Alarm as Kenya leads Africa in AfDB corruption cases
Another emergency fuel cargo imported as airlines brace for higher fuel costs
Why mining Kenya's minerals is proving harder than finding them
Inside KQ' bid to stop a decade-long financial haemorrhage
Passengers stranded overnight by Kenya airport strike
Inflation increases for second month in a row, KNBS says
Kuria said the head teachers have acknowledged receiving Sh2,890 per student for the third term, which is too little to cover the academic calendar and prepare for KCSE.
Last year, the government, he disclosed, failed to remit Sh22 billion to the schools as the year closed with a Sh 6,560 deficit per learner.
Kuriam who is also the Principal at Murang’a High School, revealed a worrying of government support for the education sector, which has left schools in debt.
He called for a review of the capitation, saying school management faces the challenge of buying food and paying electricity and water bills.
“The capitation was last reviewed in 2017, and 10 years later the cost of education materials and food has skyrocketed. Some school workers are going for months without salaries based on the impact of inflation,” he detailed.
Kuria accused the parliamentarians of sabotaging day secondary school education programmes by inciting parents against paying school fees.
The KESSHA Chairman said in most day schools, the head teachers were experiencing challenges due to insufficient capitation.
“MPs have politicised the day schools to the extent that the parents know the education is free, while their counterparts in the boarding section agreed to add extra money to sustain the well-being of their children,” said Kuria.
He regretted that the incitement has caused schools to perform poorly in the national examinations, thus posting few students to the university.