- Primary pupils have been allocated Sh2,237 per learner. The figure is low, the Union proposes the figure to be raised to Sh4,000, Oyuu said.
- He also proposed that the National Government needs to develop a comprehensive Education Management Information System (Nemis).
Image: FILE
The Kenya National Union of Teachers is calling on the Ministry of Education to increase the capitation per learner and release the funds before schools re-open in 2024.
Knut Secretary General Collins Oyuu said the current allocations are a drop in the ocean, considering the escalating cost of living, and the pricey cost of teaching tools and learning materials.
Oyuu spoke on Sunday during the Union's National Executive Council meeting at Knut House.
He said that pre-primary learners have been allocated Sh1,170 per pupil. "This figure is extremely low, the Union proposes at least Sh5,000 per pupil per annum.
Primary pupils have been allocated Sh2,237 per learner. The figure is low, the Union proposes the figure to be raised to Sh4,000," Oyuu said.
Currently, the government allocates Sh1,420 per child in primary school and Sh15,544 to junior secondary school learners which Oyuu said is not enough.
He said this figure should be adjusted upwards to at least Sh22, 000.
"Currently, students in Secondary school are allocated Sh22, 244 which is a drop in the sea," he said.
Knut wants the capitation should be increased to Sh35,000 for all learners with Special Needs and Disabilities in primary school and Sh60,000 in secondary school.
Other than enhancing capitation for Special Needs and Disabled learners, Oyuu said the government should also invest heavily in teaching tools/technology that every Special Needs educator should have in their classrooms.
"To ensure equitable quality education and lifelong learning, the government must prioritise budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Education and release funds, especially for the 2024 academic year before the opening of schools to enable heads of institutions to plan well for the year," he said.
Oyuu decried that the Ministry of Education hardly processes timely, accurate and reliable Education Data and information.
He pointed out the reliable data as the number of public, private and non-formal schools in each subcounty; teacher staffing; enrolment of pupils and students in each school; Special Needs teachers and learners in each Special School and Unit.
Others were teaching resources; establishing deserving cases to be awarded bursaries, schools connectivity to the national grid; integration of ICT in schools; tooling schools; reliability of fresh water supply in schools and distribution of non-teaching staff.
He said to avoid perennial crisis in the Education sector, and ensure proper planning, budgeting, funding, setting in place modern and adequate education infrastructure; facilitate smooth transition from ECDE to comprehensive schools, senior schools, tertiary and university, and train and hire adequate teachers/lecturers, besides tooling schools, tertiary institutions and universities.
He also proposed that the National Government needs to develop a comprehensive Education Management Information System (Nemis).
He said the Nemis system will facilitate the delivery of timely, accurate and reliable education data and information in support of planning, budgeting, funding, auditing and the general management of the sector.
The Knut boss said Free Primary Education funds and Free Day Secondary Education allocations are either delayed unnecessarily or allocated in small bits that cannot afford schools to carry out their programmes.
This, he said, leads to financial crisis in the affected institutions.
He said schools are ever in financial crisis because heads of institutions are not trained in financial management.
He said skewed and/or inadequate funding may cause inconsistencies in the implementation of the new Competency Based Curriculum.