Education Cabinet Secretary (CS), Julius Migos Ogamba, has appealed to secondary school heads not to send students home over delayed capitation.
The CS says the Education Ministry was working closely with the Treasury to ensure the balance of Sh14 billion first-term capitation is released next week.
Speaking at the Eldoret National Polytechnic during the Technical and Vocational Training, TVET Principals quarterly meeting, CS Ogamba said they had liaised with the head teachers not to send students home over school fees as his officers’ work round the clock with the Treasury to ensure the balance is released to schools as soon as possible.
“It is not the parents who pay the fees; it’s paid through capitation from the government. We are doing everything possible to ensure the balance is paid, hopefully by the coming week. A team from the Ministry is in Treasury to find out if there are adequate resources so that the capitation can be released,” assured the CS.
He added that as a government, they are working on a mechanism to ensure that the capitation is released on time so that challenges similar to those head teachers and students are going through currently do not recur.
On the controversial university funding model, the CS said the presidential review team formed by President William Ruto was finalising its report.
The team reviewed various issues raised by Kenyans and those raised in court, and once the report is finalised, it will be discussed to ensure the recommendations therein and how the team has dealt with the teething problems that were there in the previous funding model are captured to ensure we come up with a funding model that is fit for all, said Ogamba.
“We want to ensure that the findings are implemented so that by the time the new cohort of students’ report in September, we will utilize a funding model that will fit the purpose, devoid of challenges faced by the previous model,” he added.
The CS, who was flanked by Eldoret Polytechnic Chief Principal Dr. Charles Koech, called on teams running public institutions to exercise the highest level of integrity and professionalism, observing that such institutions will stand or fall on governance.
“We want people to do what they are mandated to do without overstepping their mandate; we don’t want a situation where a board oversteps its mandate to interfere with management; we want the teams to work in harmony within their mandates,” he said.
The CS said integrity and proper leadership in public institutions were not negotiable. ” And where we find a board member, or a board chairperson, a principal, or a vice chancellor, not doing what they are supposed to do, or the institutions being politicised, we shall take stern action. Our institutions are larger than an individual,” he warned.
On TVETS, the CS said they intend to ensure that a good number of the 3.5 to 4 million youths currently unemployed or in formal education are absorbed in TVETS.
By Kiptanui Cherono
