Cash flow leaves State hinting at TVET capitation
By KNA, April 17, 2023State Department for Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVETs) Principal Secretary Esther Muoria has hinted at the possibility of capped capitation for TVETs due to the ongoing cash crisis at the National Treasury.
Speaking at the Nyeri National Polytechnic, Dr Muoria said that many government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had already received communication from the Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u indicating the tough times ahead owing to cash flow issues.
She noted that just like universities, TVETs would equally be affected by the proposed funding cuts and urged heads of the institutions to brace themselves for reduced government funding.
“The government does not have the kind of money we traditionally had. The other day I actually carried and read out that letter at a function in Naivasha in which the CS has instructed us to start thinking without the box. I mean this is a bitter pill to swallow because we have to think hard about how we are going to operate in this space,” she told over 30 principals in attendance.
Kenya has a total of 2,432 public and private TVET institutions. The current student population is estimated at slightly over 385,000. During the 2022/23 financial year, Treasury allocated Sh5.2 billion as capitation for TVET students.
Every year, students placed in TVETs by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service have access to a total of Sh30,000 as capitation.
Additionally, during the same financial year, the exchequer allocated Sh1.8 billion for the construction and equipping of TVETs while Sh1 billion was set aside to be spent increasing and improving the quality of TVET programmes.
The PS said that following the communication from Treasury, TVETs will be left with no choice but to come up with projects that will make them self-sufficient.
“I have been speaking to these people (TVET principals) about being able to think much more seriously about how we are going to support our institutions because what we call capitation is not there. Please start forgetting the word capitation,” said Muoria.