Kenyan schools are facing a funding crisis.

Here’s a detailed thread on how it started and got worse.

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Kenya’s government gives capitation money to public schools every year to support free basic education.

But schools say they’re still broke.

Lets break it down;

In secondary schools, the government is supposed to give Sh22,244 per student every year.

In primary schools, it’s Sh1,420 per pupil.

But year after year, what’s released is much less than what’s needed.

Now,Each primary school pupil is allocated Sh1,420 per year:

—Sh731 for learning materials —Sh689 for running the school (salaries, electricity, etc.)

For secondary school students, the allocation is Sh22,244 per year.

Here’s how it’s used: —Sh4,792 for books —Sh5,755 for staff salaries —Sh3,151 for water & electricity —Sh1,999 for medical insurance ...and more.

For boarding students, parents also pay Sh47,060 each year — for meals, uniforms, and other needs

So why are schools still struggling?

Because the government hasn’t been disbursing the full amounts.

Officials admit schools are getting less than promised.

Despite these structured budgets, disbursements keep falling short:

1. In the 2018/2019 financial year, the government needed Sh63 billion but only approved Sh59 billion, leaving a deficit of Sh3 billion.

As a result, over 142,500 students missed out on funding.

2. In 2019/2020, the government required Sh65 billion but still approved only Sh59 billion, creating a Sh6 billion gap.

More than 276,700 learners were left out.

3. In 2020/2021, the need rose to Sh75 billion, but the approved amount remained Sh59 billion, causing a Sh16 billion shortfall.

This affected over 724,900 students.

4. In 2021/2022, Sh80 billion was needed, yet only Sh62 billion was approved—leaving a Sh17.4 billion gap.

More than 780,800 learners missed out.

5. In 2022/2023, the required amount was Sh82 billion, while the approved budget was Sh64 billion.

That’s a Sh18 billion shortfall, affecting over 794,200 students.

6. In 2023/2024, the government needed Sh96.1 billion to fully fund secondary schools.

It approved Sh62.4 billion, but only Sh54.4 billion was disbursed — leaving a disbursement shortfall of Sh7.9 billion.

Overall, the funding gap stood at Sh41.7 billion, and about 357,000 students missed out on capitation.

7. In 2024/2025, the government needed Sh72.7 billion but only approved Sh61.9 billion, leaving a deficit of Sh10.8 billion.

However, based on projected disbursements, the actual funding gap widened to Sh15.1 billion — leaving about 677,000 students without full support.