This means that, as 2024 Form 4 students complete their studies at the end of the year, the void they leave shall not be filled and secondary schools will have less learners in 2025.
According to Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, the reduction in secondary school population will have a ripple effect on the amount the government ought to disburse as capitation.
At a time when the ministry is grappling with inadequate capitation of Sh22 billion that has caused a slash of Sh5,000 per learner, the lack of Form 1 students in 2025 comes as a relief.
Belio said the exit of the 2024 KCSE candidates in November and Form 1 admission break in 2025 will see the secondary school funding crisis drop from the current Sh22 billion to about Sh11 billion.
“Remember we shall not be having a Form 1 class so the under-funding will go down to about Sh11 billion and that is what the Education committee is trying to ensure is taken care of in this 2024-25 financial year," the PS said.
Kipsang said the Sh5,000 capitation slash, which has caused uproar among unions, is due to an increase in learner population by more than one million despite a stagnant budget of Sh65 billion.
"Our secondary school student population was 3.2 million but as of January 2024, we have 4.2 million students in our secondary school. But the amount that's continued to be given is around between Sh64 billion and Sh65 billion,” he said.
He said there is need to increase the block figure from Sh65 billion to ensure capitation is adequate.
When the Star reached out to the Kenya National Examination Council to get the number of students set to sit for KCSE in 2024, Knec said it does not have conclusive data as registration of the learners is still ongoing.
"After we close the KCSE registration of learners on March 29, we can give you a number. Before then means we will give you incomplete data," the agency said.
However, this cadre of learners, when they sat for KCPE in 202o, were 1,179,182.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers chairman Omboko Milemba also said that with the lack of Form 1 learners in 2025, the monies available will provide a bigger legroom to operate on as capitation in schools.
However, Milemba, while announcing the possibility of a teachers' strike over capitation issues, said the ministry also ought to do a thorough audit of the number of learners in schools.
The Kuppet chairman said without a thorough audit to establish number of ghost students, the capitation shortfall might actually not be Sh11 billion.
He also said there's a possibility there could be learners who are in school but not registered by the National Education Management Information System.
"There are learners who have been denied a chance to get capitation because they are not on Nemis," he said.
Milemba said that since the ministry had decried a budget deficit that was making it unable to deliver on its mandate of availing capitation, it should present its supplementary budget.
"Let the Ministry of Education present their budget needs if they are saying the budget they were given is less. Let them present that deficit in the supplementary budget 1 and 2 and we shall be standing tall to give it a fast charge," he said.
Belio said he had already presented the ministry's budget needs before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education awaiting the supplementary budget reading.
