Schools across Kenya have closed weeks ahead of schedule as the government struggles to resolve a deepening capitation crisis that has left classrooms underfunded and operations paralysed.

Although the official school calendar set the end of the third term for October 24, many institutions shut their doors as early as October 14, citing delayed disbursement of government funds. The disruption has forced parents to make unplanned trips to collect their children, upending family routines and budgets.

“It’s unsettling,” said a Nairobi parent whose Form Three child was sent home without warning. “We got a message in the school WhatsApp group telling us to pick up our children the next morning. You plan your work around the official calendar, so this kind of short notice is unfair — especially for parents in faraway towns who must arrange transport.”

The Ministry of Education attributes the crisis to ongoing efforts to synchronise the funding calendar with the national budget cycle, shifting from January–December to June–June. This alignment, officials say, has caused temporary delays in the release of funds.

So far, the Treasury has disbursed Sh22.1 billion to public primary and secondary schools. However, not all institutions have accessed the funds. According to Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, around 18,000 of the 23,000 public primary schools have received full payments, while the remaining 5,000 are under audit for suspected irregularities.

Kenya’s education system serves more than 97,000 institutions — from pre-primary to secondary level — leaving administrators scrambling to keep operations afloat amid the funding gap.

Despite the ministry’s assurances that Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) funds were released, many schools say the amounts received are well below what is required to sustain them.

The ministry confirmed that Sh3,094.92 had been allocated per student for the third term, with additional allocations to CEMASTEA and KEMI for teacher training and management capacity-building. These figures were based on April data from the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS).

Education experts, however, argue that the disbursements fall far short of the government’s own funding policy. Under the FDSE programme, each student should receive Sh22,144 per year — split across three terms. In reality, schools have received far less:

• Term 1: Sh8,818 instead of Sh11,122

• Term 2: Sh3,471 instead of Sh6,673

• Term 3: Sh3,094.92 instead of Sh4,439

That means every student has missed out on roughly Sh6,850 this year alone.

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KSSHA) chairman Willy Kuria warned that the shortfall is pushing schools to the brink. “We are struggling to pay suppliers, run feeding programmes, and keep utilities on,” he said. “Without timely and full disbursement, the system cannot function.”

Education officials insist the government remains committed to stabilising the situation, but parents and teachers alike say the damage is already visible — from unfinished lessons to mounting unpaid bills.

For now, as millions of pupils begin their two-month break, uncertainty looms large over what awaits when schools reopen in January.