Parliament endorses increase in primary schools capitation

Parliament wants the government to revise the capitation per student in primary schools from the current Sh1,420 per year to at least Sh7,760, being the minimum optimal capitation factoring in the new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) education system and the prevailing high cost of living.

Lawmakers also want the education bursary schemes under Section 48 of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) Act, 2015 be extended to support learners in primary and Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).

Legislators made the drastic move as they passed a Motion by Gatanga MP Edward Muriu that seeks to review the scope of education bursary scheme under the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) and capitation for learners in primary and junior secondary.

They said that every child is entitled to free, quality and compulsory basic education and, therefore, their being able to go to school would contribute to the realisation of universal access to basic education.

Currently, allocations to bursary schemes under the fund amount to not more than 35 per cent of total constituency allocation in a financial year.

Muriu’s motion read in part: “Pursuant to Section 48A of National Government Constituency Development Fund Act, 2015, the NG-CDF board in each constituency approves additional allocation to the education bursary scheme to support for teaching and learning related activities associated with the CBC education including School Feeding Programmes.”

MPs Muriu, Aden Mohammed (Wajir East), Martha Wangari (Gilgil), Dorothy Muthoni (Nominated), Johana Ng’eno (Emurua Dikir) and Pauline Lenguris (Samburu county), said the NG-CDF Board has only been approving bursary support for secondary and tertiary education and not primary schools and the recently created Junior Secondary Schools;

Said Muriu: “Every child must be given quality education. Every child is also entitled to quality nutrition. The two go hand in hand.”

Muriu said his motion will breathe new life to Article 27 of the Constitution on equity and freedom from discrimination.

The lawmaker noted that the Ministry of Education was allocated Sh628 billion in the current budget but a very small amount goes towards school feeding programmes.

“We cannot talk about quality education when we are not providing good nutrition to our children. When children 10 years and below don’t get proper nutrition, their brains could be stunted,” he stated.

School feeding

He added that the NG-CDF Board in each constituency should approve additional allocation to the education bursary scheme in order to support teaching and learning related activities associated with the CBC education including school feeding programmes.

According to Save the Children- a leading humanitarian organisation for children, 26 per cent of Kenyan children are suffering stunted growth due to malnutrition.

Mohammed said despite the fact that every child has right to free and compulsory education, the capitation that was approved in 2015 is inadequate to provide for the CBC.

He said: “Therefore, this Motion has come at the right time to emphasise compulsory and free education. The second objective of this Motion is to breathe life to Article 53 of the Constitution, which not only talks about compulsory free basic education, but also compulsory basic nutrition.”

Wangari raised concerns that at the moment 11-year-old children are in the streets and not going to school because they cannot afford Sh 3. She said that this will in turn have far reaching effects as this will drive girls to early marriages, pregnancies and defilement because they do not have food or sanitary towels.

“For the first time, we have seen children in primary schools being sent home for fees. It has never happened. While walking in the streets, you will find a child and ask them why they are not in school, and they will tell you they have been sent home for small amounts of money from their primary schools. You can see that we have a big problem,”she said.

She added: “If we cannot provide food and sanitary towels for our kids, then we are failing as a nation.”
Muthoni said that the government should ensure that schools access funding to enable them to take care of the needs of the students.