Ministry Gets Sh2bn Allocations For CBC Classrooms Project.
The revised budget increased allocation for spending by government ministries by Sh126.3 billion, representing a 3.3% increase in the national budget from the original plan presented in April last year, and is expected to widen the budget deficit further.
The government has set aside Sh2 billion for the construction of classrooms for junior secondary students as the government expedites the implementation of key projects for the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
The funds will help the government meet its goal of building 10,000 new classrooms by next year.
In the supplementary budget estimates submitted to Parliament last week by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, CBC emerged as one of the priority funding areas.
The allocation for classroom construction is a significant boost for schools, as 1.4 million Grade Six students – now in Grade Five – are expected to transition to junior secondary in January of next year.
This comes as the Ministry of Education expressed concern about the transition due to the government’s failure to allocate funds for tuition for students in the fiscal year 2022/23.
Last week, Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan and his Implementation of Curriculum Reforms counterpart Fatuma Chege testified before the National Assembly’s Committee on Education and Research that the roll-out could be stymied if the government fails to budget for tuition.
Meanwhile, Treasury has allocated an additional Sh53 million for the construction of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in schools to support CBC assessments, as well as Sh1.01 billion for secondary school infrastructure improvement.
The Treasury has also allocated Sh3.09 billion in the mini-budget to early learning and basic education programs, a 3% increase from the estimates submitted to Parliament in June last year.
This includes Sh2.65 billion set aside for primary schools to provide meals to students.
In addition, the Treasury has allocated an additional Sh8.58 billion to universities, which will aid in addressing the acute financial crisis in institutions of higher learning.
Because of lower revenue collections, the institutions are sinking deeper into debt.
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Recent Auditor General Nancy Gathungu reports paint a bleak picture of public universities in dire financial straits, heavily reliant on government funding and costly short-term loans to operate.
Many of the universities’ liabilities have far outweighed their assets, rendering them technically insolvent and necessitating immediate restructuring measures to turn their fortunes around.
