Kenya’s education sector has once again claimed the largest share of the national budget, but a closer look reveals winners and losers within its Sh702.7 billion allocation for the 2025–26 financial year.
The sector received an increase of Sh44.5 billion from last year’s Sh656.6 billion, continuing a steady upward trend.
Though education’s share of the budget remains high at 28 per cent of Sh4.29 trillion, internal reallocations reflect emerging government priorities, favouring teacher staffing and student financing over infrastructure and classroom support.
Despite the overall increase, key basic education programmes saw reduced allocations.
Free primary education dropped from Sh9.1 billion to Sh7 billion, while capitation for Junior Secondary Schools fell from Sh30.7 billion to Sh28.9 billion.
Free day secondary education also saw a cut, from Sh61.9 billion to Sh51.9 billion — a Sh10 billion drop.
Spending on infrastructure development for primary and secondary schools was nearly halved, down from Sh3.2 billion to Sh1.7 billion.
Similarly, the allocation for TVET infrastructure declined from Sh2.3 billion to Sh1.4 billion.
