Primary school heads have called on the government to review capitation on primary schools.
They said the amount currently in place falls below the requirements to effectively run a school.
The Kenya Primary School Heads Association national chairman Jonson Nzioka said the last review on capitation was done in 2010, where capitation was capped at Sh1,400 per child.
They now want the capitation reviewed and increased to about Sh7, 500 per child per year.
The current capitation per learner in secondary school is Sh22, 244.
“In a case scenario of running an ideal primary school of 400 pupils, the cost comes to about Sh3 million per annum,” Nzioka said.
He was speaking in Mombasa on Tuesday during the second day of the 18th Kepsha annual general meeting and conference at the Sheik Zayed Children Welfare Centre.
The Kepsha chairman also requested for consideration be given to low-cost boarding schools in the arid and semi-arid areas together with feeding programmes in primary schools to enable them to realise 100 per cent retention.
“What this means is that the schools will be well-resourced and will be able to deliver the right education for our children and society,” Nzioka said.
He also requested for the progression of head teachers in grade D1 to be given consideration, saying that a good number have stagnated in that grade for too long.
“Kepsha has not been able to access a vote head to support its activities since the launch of free primary education in 2003," Nzioka said.
"It is our humble request to the President that, just like our secondary school brothers, Kepsha gets a vote head to enable the school heads to facilitate and support their schools and the association’s programmes, especially in the children's council and teacher capacity building.
“What this will mean is holistic education where there is an efficient management system, pupils’ success and improved success in quality which comes as a result of increased investment in infrastructure, human capacity development and policy reforms.”
The Kepsha chairman hailed the proposed plan by the government to employ 30,000 new teachers to address the current teacher shortage in the country.
The Teacher Service Commission announced that the country was currently facing a shortage of 116,000 teachers in the country.
TSC chairman Dr Jamleck Muturi said the matter was serious as they had gone around 23 counties to assess the situation.
“I want to give you my assurance that we shall advertise for the recruitment in two weeks’ time to ensure that we have the 30,000 new teachers when schools open in January,” the TSC chairman said.
Muturi assured the school heads equity in the distribution of the teachers, adding that TSC was working with the Ministry of Education to deliver quality education to Kenyan children as they implement the national agenda on education.
Currently, there are about 229,000 primary school teachers, both in public and private primary schools across the country, with those in secondary school standing at 60,000.
Muturi also urged the school heads to support the President’s agenda on tree planting by encouraging students to plant trees around their schools.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
