Relief for cash-strapped schools as Mbadi reveals release of Sh23 billion capitation funds

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has announced the release of Sh23 billion capitation funds for schools as the short but critical third term in what would be a major boost for beleaguered head teachers.

Speaking during the launch of the 2026/27 budget making process, Mbadi said Sh23 billion is set to be disbursed to the ministry of Education on Tuesday, adding that Sh17 billion of the allocation is for capitation, while Sh5.9 billion will cater for the national exams, which will happen in the coming weeks.

“We want to get more resources for capitation so that our children can go to school, we want to give more money to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), and by the way, tomorrow we are releasing the money to the Ministry of Education, we are giving Ksh17 billion plus Ksh5.9 billion which is for examination that is Sh23 billion,” he said.

Mbadi, however, admitted the government has not been disbursing sufficient funds for school capitation over the past seven years.

He said he met with Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba and Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok to identify the funding gaps in capitation.

“We are not giving enough money for capitation; we have not been doing it for seven years, and I have no apologies to make. I have sat with the CS and PS for Education to look at that gap under the instruction of the president, and we have seen the gap,” Mbadi stated.

Last term, most of the schools across the country were forced to close earlier than the stated dates of the school calendars due to insufficient capitation, as schools even complained lack of food for the students.

“The students had to leave a week early because the government did not send the whole capitation for term two. We could not operate well, hence forced to release the kids early,” a head teacher of a school located in Western Kenya told The Informer Media Group.

Generally, this year’s academic calendar of many schools has been impacted by the delay in the release of capitation by the National Treasury, with CS Mbadi claiming that the government is unable to sustain free education, adding that the capitation funds would soon be reduced.

However, last month, Ogamba dismissed the claims, saying the government has not resolved to implement a reduction in the capitation amount allocated to secondary school students.

“Nobody has ever said that we are reducing the money from Sh22,000 to Sh16,000. I don’t know where that came from. Even my colleague never said anything close to that,” he said

Ogamba called on political leaders to support the education sector by offering practical solutions and exploring new funding mechanisms instead of fueling alarm.

“We are all in this together. What happens in budget-making is a matter of looking at available funds and allocating them across ministries. The education sector deserves and will continue to receive the support it requires,” he noted.