MoE Disburses Free Secondary Education Funds
MoE Disburses Free Secondary Education Funds. The Ministry of Education has released the Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) funds for the first term of 2023 and the third quarter of the Financial Year 2022–2023, according to Basic Education Principal Secretary (PS) Dr. Belio Kipsang.
In a circular dated June 14, 2023 that was copied to County Directors of Education (CDEs) across the country, the PS underlined that the per-student budget is Ksh4,150.35. The enrollment data was obtained on April 12, 2023, at 12:48 p.m. from the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS).
“The Ministry has remitted Ksh280.00 and Ksh50 per learner to KICD and Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMESTEA) to cater for textbooks and Capacity Building (SMASSE) respectively under tuition account,” the circular states.
The document also noted that “an additional Ksh338.50 and Ksh100.00 per learner has been remitted to NHIF and field officers from the operations account to cater for medical insurance (EduAfya) for students and centralised co-curricular activities.”
Dr. Kipsang believes that in order to ensure that all principals acknowledge receiving funds, the CDEs should provide certified school receipts to his office for both the tuition and operation accounts, along with copies to the SCDEs and CDEs.
They must also send the CDE through the SCDE a copy of the official receipt for both accounts as well as an allocation of monies that has been officially authorized by each student. They must also get every student to sign form-lists that include their names as they are listed in the admission register, their admission numbers, and the amount of the award.
Each student shall obtain an official receipt from the school for their allocation, and these lists should be properly attached to the payment voucher kept by the school.
The PS warned that future grant payments to certain schools will be suspended if this wasn’t finished within two weeks of receiving funds.
He issued a warning that schools would not get FDSE money in upcoming distributions if they did not acknowledge funds within the specified time.
“Any communication from all heads of institution to this Ministry should clearly indicate the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) and Unique Institutional Code (UIC) codes for the school in question to ease record retrieval,” he added.
The circular further noted that each SCDE and CDE shall independently confirm and monitor the accuracy of NEMIS enrollment data for schools that fall under their purview.
In addition, any extra funds received will be returned if it turns out that a school has fewer pupils enrolled than the amount used for this payment.