Archbishop Anyolo raises concern over capitation delays, teacher shortages in schools
Archbishop Philip Anyolo has expressed grave concerns over the state of Kenya’s education system, warning that the country risks long-term damage if it fails to take education seriously.
Speaking on August 5, 2025, the Archbishop cited late disbursement of funds, inadequate staffing, increasing student populations, and poor infrastructure as critical challenges that could undermine the country’s future.
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He noted that the growing pressure on schools is being exacerbated by a mismatch between rising enrollment numbers and the available facilities to accommodate them.
“Reduced government capitations, for example, delays in disbursement of funds, insufficient number of teachers, pressure from parents, and increasing enrollments without matching infrastructure,” he said.
Education policies
Anyolo stressed the importance of establishing sound education policies, cautioning against any missteps that could adversely affect the sector.
“It’s very much in the details, because if you make any blunder in education, you can bring the whole country down, and bring the whole humanity down,” he warned.
He urged political leaders to handle education matters with the utmost care and to avoid making rash decisions that could destabilise the system
“We have to be very cautious that any other things, as we go about in politics and so such, we don’t make blunders on matters of education,” he added.
Capitation shortfall
His comments come barely two months after months after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba, while appearing before the National Assembly’s Committee on Education, struggled to explain the delays in disbursing capitation funds to schools, revealing that the government owes billions to educational institutions.
During the June 5, 2025, session, Kathiani MP Robert Mbui revealed that schools had received only Ksh14 billion out of the expected Ksh28 billion for Term One of 2025, resulting in acute cash flow challenges and the accumulation of pending bills.
Mbui reported that the capitation shortfall has escalated to Ksh64 billion over the past five years.
In his defence, Ogamba at the time, said that while the Ministry had disbursed Ksh28.8 billion to secondary schools in two tranches—January and March 2025— which was still Ksh7.5 billion short of the required Ksh36.3 billion for the term.
The CS further explained that the Ministry now disburses capitation based on school terms—50% in Term 1, 30% in Term 2, and 20% in Term 3, citing delays in exchequer releases and erroneous data uploads by schools as key contributors to disbursement bottlenecks.
“We disbursed 50% of the budgeted amount in two tranches, but the printed estimates had a deficit. That’s a reflection of the fiscal pressure we are under,” Ogamba explained.
“We appeal to this Committee to support the Ministry in securing funds at the approved rates to ensure that no school is left behind,” he added.
