The issue of capitation to schools is a big issue- School heads amidst high cost of living.
Speaking in Mombasa ahead of the official launch of the KESSHA National Conference, Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) chairman Kahi Indimuli stated that the government needs to increase capitation to schools.
He for instance, highlighted that most boarding schools are currently in limbo because of the financial constraints and inadequate funding from the government.
He highlighted that purchasing school supplies for instance food, has become expensive ever since the cost of living went over the roof.
He stated,”We’re asking for the capitation to be increased because the cost of living has also gone up. If you look at the current financial budgets, boarding schools had indicated that a 90kg bag of maize would go for around Sh3,000 and currently a bag of maize goes for around Sh7,000.”
“Schools had estimated that a bag of beans would go for around Sh6,000 but, currently they go for around Sh16,000. This, therefore, means that the current budgets can’t sustain the institutions,” he added.
He additionally raised that inadequate capitation is causing agony to many schools and school heads don’t know what to do.
He stated,”The issue of capitation to schools is a big issue. During the last financial year 2021/2022 we expected around Sh22,244 but we didn’t get the full amount, we had a deficit of Sh4,000.”
“This year, during the disbursement of the last quarter of the capitation we expected Sh9,000 per student but we got around Sh4,200 leaving us with a deficit of about Sh4,800,” he added.
This year, the school heads are congregating at Sheikh Zayed, Mombasa for the 46th KESSHA National Conference.
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