Schools to close early as cash crunch persists
Schools to close early as cash crunch persists
Schools to close early as cash crunch persists
It is now emerging that schools are opting for early closure bringing to an end Term One owing to financial crunch even as questions emerge over syllabus coverage.
The Standard has established that several secondary schools will begin closing this week as they grapple with financial challenges. The revised education calendar shows that First Term began on January 8, 2024 and closing date was set for April 5, 2024.This means schools are expected to close next week Friday marking 13 weeks of learning.
However, with early closure, some schools have lost up to two weeks of learning time which could see a rush against time for the students as teachers try to cover the syllabus.
The students will also get an extended holiday that will stretch for a whole month as they are set to report back for the second term
This means the holiday period will now run for four weeks rather than the scheduled three weeks by the Ministry of Education.
A further spot check shows that most schools within Nairobi are planning to release the students before Good Friday.
Headteachers intimated that failure by the government to release capitation has occasioned the financial crisis which has seen most schools struggle to run day-to-day operations. The situation, principals said is worsened by failure by some parents to pay fees for their children.
In January, the National Treasury released Sh31.34 billion capitation for Term One.Out of this, Sh4.74 billion was disbursed for free primary education, Sh7.6 billion for Junior Secondary Schools and Sh16.2 billion for free day secondary schools.
The government also released Sh2.8 billion to cater for school examination and invigilation costs.
However, this was only a fraction of the capitation the government was supposed to disburse.
Last week Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang assured that the capitation will disbursed to the institutions this week.
“We have released 25 per cent… in the next 10 days we should have released the resources,” he said while appearing before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee to respond to audit queries.
