Free Education is Not Being Scrapped, Govt Clarifies

The Government has clarified that the free primary and secondary education policy has not been scrapped.

Basic Education PS Julius Bitok said that instead, the Ministry of Education will lobby Parliament to enhance the education budget to bridge funding deficit for capitation and national examinations among other expenditures.

“I want to assure the country that the policy on free primary and secondary education has not changed. The government will continue financing education through capitation as it has been over the years.”

Speaking at St. Thomas Girls Secondary School in Kilifi on Friday, the PS said although the Ministry budget allocation rose to a historical Sh702 Billion in the current financial year, the amount does not match funding needs.

“Growing demand means we must work even harder to ensure these investments reach every learner, especially through capitation. We are continuing to engage parliament so that we get the required resources to support education in this country.”

The PS defended Treasury CS John Mbadi comments on the sustainability of free education saying they had been misinterpreted.

“What he underscored, and what we reaffirm, is the need for closer collaboration with Parliament to ensure that education funding keeps pace with the growing needs of our learners.”

Parliament lobbying

Kilifi North MP Owen Baya who is also the Deputy Majority Leader in the National Assembly echoed the same position.

“As a leader of government business in the House, I can confirm that indeed there has been no change in policy about funding public education. As MPs, we will continue to set aside funds including for university education.”

The PS defended the current administration’s investments in education including in recruitment of new teachers and construction of infrastructure as record breaking.

“Previous governments only employed 3,000 or 5,000 teachers annually. We are talking about 100,000 teachers in just three years.”

The PS also announced the rollout of a new education data system, Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), to replace NEMIS to enhance accuracy and efficiency in distribution of capitation.

“We are overhauling the system. With KEMIS, we can track every student, every teacher, every transfer, eliminating delays and ghost entries.”

He reiterated the government’s warning that sexual misconduct involving students willbe punished.

“To anyone taking advantage of our children, we will come for you! That era is over! Report them, and we will act .”