📢 RICCA Statement on the 2025 Education Capitation Reductions in Kenya

At RICCA, we acknowledge the recent public statements made by government officials, including Treasury Cabinet Secretary, regarding the planned reductions in education capitation. We share this statement not in opposition, but in constructive solidarity with the millions of children in Kenya, especially those in rural, marginalized communities, whose futures are directly impacted by such policy shifts.

As a child-focused organization committed to preventing school dropout and addressing child poverty, we are concerned that reductions in education funding will undermine the progress made toward achieving universal access to quality basic education, a right protected under Article 53 of the Constitution of Kenya, particularly EVERY Child having a right to free and compulsory basic education.

These consequences are most severe in rural counties already experiencing high poverty levels and limited education resources, such as Baringo, Turkana, West Pokot, and parts of northern Kenya. It is, therefore, especially disappointing when leaders from these same regions appear to support measures that risk deepening educational inequality. We encourage all leaders—regardless of political affiliation—to champion equitable investment in education as a non-negotiable priority.

‍ A Personal Reflection

As a child of rural Kenya, I’ve seen both sides of this reality. Many children in the village are at greater risks of dropping out—not for lack of talent or will, but because the system failing to carry them through.

The Impact of Reduced Capitation

Cutting education funding today means:

·      Fewer textbooks and learning materials

·      Larger teacher-student ratios Overburdened, under-supported teachers

·      Inadequate classrooms, desks, toilets, and hygiene facilities

·      Widening inequality between rural and urban schools

Rethinking Bursary Funding for Greater Equity

But the problem runs deeper than capitation cuts.

It has always been RICCA’s position that the current bursary model in Kenya is broken. The dozens of fragmented, politicized bursary programs—from MCAs, MPs, County Governments, Women Reps, Ministries of Education and Social Services, the Presidential Bursary Scheme, to bank-run scholarships—are no longer serving the intended purpose.

We recommend that all these fragmented schemes be disbanded, and either:

Consolidated into one unified National Education Fund with clear accountability, or

Reallocated directly to the Ministry of Education, to guarantee truly free education from primary through to university.

The Auditor General’s Special Audit Report on school capitation has laid bare serious gaps in Kenya’s basic education financing—from ghost schools receiving funds, to inconsistencies in NEMIS data, and infrastructure grants paid to schools that don’t exist in county records. These findings point not just to financial mismanagement, but to systemic failure in safeguarding the right to quality education for every child.

A streamlined and depoliticized approach would ensure transparency, equity, and sustainability, and would help eliminate the hidden costs that continue to push children out of school.

Let’s fund the future.

Let’s protect every child’s right to learn.

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