Azimio leader Raila Odinga has disclosed that President William Ruto lied openly to parents, teachers and children of Kenya that the government has increased allocation of funds to schools.

In a statement on Tuesday January 2, Raila noted that on Monday January 8, learning will resume in primary and secondary schools to a very different reality.

“The truth is that at the end of the Third Term of the 2022/2023 Financial Year alone, government subsidy for Free Day Secondary Education fell way below requirement. 

“The government’s own data indicate that the country had 3,690,376 learners who required Ksh82, 088,723,744 in funding. 

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“But the government approved only Ksh64,421,865,698. Of this approved amount, only Ksh64,421,850,160.01 was actually disbursed to schools, leaving a deficit of 17,666,873,584. This left some 794,231 students without any form of funding,” Raila stated.

Raila added that in the Financial Year 2022/2023, the Kenya Kwanza government disbursed only Ksh17, 339.00 instead of Ksh22,244 per child. 

According to the ODM leader, the government owes each child on this program some Ksh4, 905.00. 

The total money owed to schools from the Financial Year 2022/2023 is Ksh18,101,294,280.

“In the 2023/2024 Financial Year, the Ruto administration disbursed only Ksh3, 327.87 per child instead of Ksh22, 244, a mere 14 percent of the required amount. 

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“He owes each child some Ksh.18, 916, 13 or 85 percent of what is needed. Ruto owes secondary schools a total of Ksh 69,807,632,165. 

“It is not even clear whether the paltry 14 percent said to have been disbursed has actually been discharged. There is a big disconnect between what the government says and what is actually implemented,” Raila noted in a statement.

To ensure that every Kenyan child has a right to access free and compulsory basic education and that all students in secondary school are funded to complete their basic education, the government of Kenya began the Free Day Secondary Education programme in 2008, with the granting of capitation per learner.

“In 2008, the rate per learner was Ksh10,625. This was increased to Kshs. 12,870 in 2015 and then to Kshs. 22,244 in 2018. 

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“Public secondary schools were also prohibited from charging tuition fees. Ruto has added nothing to this limit,” he stated.

The ODM leader explained that as schools await opening, most parents are struggling with the reality of increased school fees of between Ksh40,000 and Ksh90,000 in the fee structures they have received from government secondary schools.