Secondary school heads say billions in expected funding have not reached school accounts, raising fears over disrupted learning activities in Term Three.
Kenya’s public secondary schools have entered the third term facing a familiar but worsening problem: the money promised by the government is not matching the funds actually available to run schools.
Just days after learners returned for the final term of the 2026 academic year, secondary school principals are warning that inadequate capitation could disrupt essential learning activities, expose schools to mounting debts and place additional pressure on already stretched parents.
The Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) has raised the alarm over what it describes as a significant funding gap, saying schools have yet to receive the full government allocation promised for each learner.
KESSHA Chairperson Willie Kuria said on Tuesday, September 1, that the government is supposed to provide Ksh22,244 per secondary school learner annually.
However, schools have so far received significantly less.
Funding promises mean little to schools if the money arrives late, falls short or never reaches the accounts that keep learning running.
Schools Receive Less Than Promised Capitation
According to Kuria, the government has released Ksh16,141 per learner so far this year.
But even that figure does not represent the amount available to schools.
He explained that Ksh2,000 per learner has been retained by the Ministry of Education for expenses including textbooks and curricular activities.
As a result, only about Ksh14,050 per learner has actually reached school bank accounts.
“This year we have not yet received the full capitation, just like last year and other years. You are aware that we are supposed to receive a capitation of Ksh22,244 per year per student,” Kuria said.
“So far this year, what has landed in school accounts is Ksh14,050. We may say that the capitation released so far is Ksh16,141 per student, but it is not all that amount that is in school accounts.”
The distinction is significant because schools must meet day-to-day operational costs using money that is actually accessible to them.
With the academic calendar already well advanced, principals have limited room to absorb another funding shock.
Previous capitation deficit remains unpaid
The latest warning also exposes a deeper problem within the government's school funding system.
KESSHA says schools are not only dealing with the current shortfall but are still carrying the financial burden created by inadequate funding in the previous academic year.
Kuria said the Ministry of Education released Ksh15,383 per learner last year but retained Ksh811, leaving schools with approximately Ksh14,572 per learner in their accounts.
This meant schools were operating far below the annual allocation of Ksh22,244.
According to Kuria, last year's shortfall stood at approximately Ksh6,560 per learner, translating into more than Ksh22 billion across the country's student population.
The schools, he said, have not been compensated for the outstanding amount.
“Last year there was a deficit of Ksh6,560 per learner, which was coming to Ksh22 billion plus for the students in the country. But now we started a new year. There is no compensation that we were able to get about last year,” he stated.
The failure to clear the previous deficit means schools have effectively entered a new financial year carrying liabilities from the previous one.
Ksh18.5 billion government release raises questions
The concerns come only days after the Ministry of Education announced that it had released billions of shillings in capitation for the third term.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba announced on August 24 that the government had released Ksh18.508 billion to support learners in public basic education institutions.
The funds were intended to facilitate the smooth running of schools during Term Three.
“Term 3 of 2026 has begun today, with basic education institutions, including pre-primary, primary, junior and senior schools, opening across the country,” Ogamba said.
“To facilitate seamless operations and the conduct of school activities in the new term, the Government has already released Ksh18,508,271,486.60 as capitation for Term 3 for learners in all public basic education institutions.”
But the KESSHA concerns suggest that the announcement of funds being released does not necessarily mean schools have received the full amount they need.
The revelation that part of the announced capitation remains retained at ministry level also highlights the difference between money classified as released and money immediately available to school administrators.
Parents could face renewed financial pressure
The funding crisis could ultimately spill over to parents if schools struggle to finance essential programmes.
Ogamba had directed principals and school heads to use the available funds prudently and warned them against imposing unauthorised levies on parents.
That warning comes at a time when many households are already struggling with the rising cost of education and basic necessities.
For school heads, however, the challenge is how to maintain learning activities when allocations fall short of projected requirements.
Schools require funding for a wide range of activities, including instructional materials, examinations, administration, utilities, co-curricular programmes and other operational needs.
A persistent funding gap therefore risks forcing principals to make difficult choices over which activities to prioritise and which to postpone.
The bigger problem facing public schools
The latest dispute goes beyond a single term's allocation.
It points to a growing gap between government promises, budgetary allocations and the money that eventually becomes available to schools.
When previous deficits remain unpaid while new allocations also fall short, schools are forced to operate under increasingly difficult financial conditions.
The situation could become particularly problematic in the final term, when schools face examinations, academic programmes and other end-of-year obligations.
For now, KESSHA's warning places the government under renewed pressure to explain how much money has actually reached schools, how much remains withheld and when outstanding capitation from previous years will be settled.
