Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has said funds will be wired to schools before the end of the week.
Mr Rotich Tuesday attributed the delay in funds release to a late request from the Ministry of Education.
Earlier, Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang said the government had released Sh36 billion for free primary and day secondary schooling.
Head teachers had expected to receive the money at the beginning of the term.
Those interviewed said they are struggling to pay suppliers, buy stationery and pay salaries for workers and teachers employed by boards of management.
“We received a request from the ministry just last week. We will be paying before the end of this week,” the CS said.
The government usually releases 50 per cent of the cash at the beginning of the school calendar. The amount given to a school depends on the population of the learners. Thirty per cent is wired in second term and the remaining in third term.
Last year, the government released Sh37 billion in the first term. Of the amount, Sh29.5 billion was for free day secondary school programmes and Sh7.5 billion for primary schools.
Mr Rotich did not say how much would be sent to schools.
MANY STUDENTS
Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman Kahi Indimuli said on Monday that public school principals cannot manage the large number of students without funds.
Principals, he said, had proposed to the ministry to base the first term disbursement on last year’s student figures to avoid disruptions.
Mr Indimuli said the figures would be reconciled later.
As he inspected the delivery of the new curriculum in Grade Two at Ngong Township Primary School in Kajiado County, Dr Kipsang said Sh30 billion had already been released for free day secondary education and Sh6 billion for primary schools.
“The secondary school money was transmitted through the National Education Management Information System unlike in the past when the ministry relied on the information provided by principals,” Dr Kipsang said.
But even as the PS spoke, some 300,000 students in 500 secondary schools will not benefit from the disbursement after it emerged that their details were not uploaded on the ministry’s website. The PS said the Sh30 billion was only meant for 2.6 million learners in 3,000 schools.
“The 500 will have to wait until the students’ details are reflected in the website,” Dr Kipsang said.
SPECIAL NEEDS
The government introduced free day secondary schooling last year. It pays Sh22,224 for every student each year.
For national and extra-county schools in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nyeri, Thika and Eldoret, the government pays Sh22,244 for every student while parents provide Sh53,554.
Category B boarding and extra-county schools in other areas receive Sh22,244 per student from the government while parents pay Sh40,535.
The Education ministry has also increased the special needs secondary education fund to Sh57,974 from Sh37,210 per student, with parents paying Sh12,790, down from Sh32,600.
Last year, some day schools closed for the August holidays earlier than scheduled because the ministry delayed sending the second tranche.
It only released Sh6.5 billion in the last week of the term, and that was after pressure from principals and teachers’ unions.
Principals have said they are running their schools on limited resources.
“Parents have been told that the government sends money to schools and so they are in no hurry to pay,” a principal of a girls school in Makueni County said.
Another from Murang’a said a recent academic day at the school turned into a money debate in which he literally pleaded with parents to pay fees.