Azimio leader Raila Odinga has threatened to move to court to compel the Kenya Kwanza administration to release the full capitation to schools.
Raila regretted that while the Treasury has already released the money, the Ministry of Education has continued to withhold it, subjecting children and teachers to suffering.
In what appears to be a two-pronged approach to the matter, Raila also challenged the MPs from the Coalition to mount pressure on the government.
“We have tasked our MPs to push, and we also plan to go to court to force the Ministry of Education to release full capitation to both primary and secondary schools so that schools can start the year smoothly,” he said.
He argued that secondary schools have only received half of the funds they are supposed to be getting.
“The whereabouts of the other half of the money is unknown,” the opposition leader said in his New Year message sent to newsrooms.
“We believe some of this money is going to fictitious schools that have been created for purposes of embezzlement."
This, according to Raila, has forced the learning institutions to incur huge pending bills while interfering with the feeding programme and payment of non-teaching staff and purchase of equipment.
The situation, he added, has also been experienced in TVET institutions and TTCs which he said have resorted to charging parents exorbitantly.
Raila has further demanded that the University Funding Board should release scholarship money meant for students who are unable to pay their fees.
“The same money will enable universities to run. Money must flow to our learning institutions as stipulated by the law,” he stated.
In the raging debate over the employment of Junior Secondary School interns, Raila told the government to keep its word and absorb all those who have served for one year.
In a recent media interview, President William Ruto put the matter to rest when he assured the interns of employment once they served for two years.
Ruto said it is now a government practice for the intern teachers to work for two years before they are employed on permanent and pensionable terms.
He told them to “relax”” and go through the process.
"The JSS intern teachers will be at work in January. We had promised that before being employed on permanent and pensionable terms in all the sectors, they must do an internship for two years," he said.
