President William Ruto has directed Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba and Treasury CS John Mbadi to urgently resolve delays in school capitation funding, which he said have disrupted learning in many institutions.
Speaking on Saturday during the Walimu na Rais Forum at State House, Nairobi, the President acknowledged concerns raised by teachers over late disbursements and ordered the two ministries to harmonize the funding formula with the education calendar.
“There is a problem in the capitation release. Most of the time, there is a delay,” Ruto said. “I am instructing the Minister of Education to sit down with the Minister of Finance to align this. They told me the challenge is that our financial year runs from July to June, while the education calendar runs from January to December. That disconnect must be fixed.”
The Head of State gave the two CSs three months to come up with a comprehensive solution and present their findings by December. He assured teachers that the government is determined to have the issue fully addressed before the start of the 2026 school year.
The directive comes just weeks after the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) raised alarm over the financial strain schools face due to delayed funding.
KUPPET chairperson Omboko Milemba, speaking in Eldoret on August 30, said many schools were forced to shut down early in the second term after funds failed to arrive on time.
He warned that a similar situation could hit the third term if the problem persists.
“Schools have been closed, but remember that in the last term, schools closed early because we did not have capitation. Now we are one week to the opening of the third term, and we still don’t have the funds,” Milemba noted.
Teachers at the State House meeting welcomed the President’s intervention, saying timely release of funds would ease the pressure schools face in managing operations and preparing students for national examinations.
