Mbadi responds to criticism over govt’s free education programme
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has addressed growing criticism of Kenya’s Free Day Secondary Education programme.
Speaking during the education thanksgiving ceremony at God Oloo Secondary School in Suba South on Friday, July 25, 2025, Mbadi acknowledged that while the government disburses the full budgeted amount, it falls significantly short of meeting the annual Ksh 22,000 capitation per learner.
You might also like
He explained that when divided by the number of senior secondary school students, the allocation works out to approximately Ksh 17,000 per student, leaving a substantial funding gap.
“Since the introduction of free day secondary school, the government has not been able to give or allocate every student Ksh 22,000, the government disperses all the amount allocated in the budget, but still it is not enough,” he said.
“The only thing I did was to confirm that we have allocated so much budget and we are giving it in full, but it is not enough to give every child in Kenya Ksh 22,000. That budget, if you divide it by the number of students in Kenya who are in senior secondary school, you will only get Ksh 17,000.”
The CS further added that the country struggles with facing uncomfortable truths, stating that fully funding free secondary education has now become unsustainable.
“The challenge we face as a country is that we shy away from confronting the truth. The reality is that fully funding free secondary education has become unsustainable. However, as a government, we are actively exploring sustainable solutions to address this situation,” he added.
Govt on free basic education
This comes after the Basic Education Principal Secretary, Julius Bitok clarified that the government is not planning to scrap the free primary and secondary education programme due to budgetary constraints.
Speaking at St. Thomas Girls Secondary School in Kilifi County on Friday, July 25, 2025, Bitok said that the statements by Cabinet Secretary for Treasury John Mbadi while appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Education had been taken out of context.
Bitok also observed that although the Ministry budget allocation rose to Ksh702 billion in the 2025/2026 financial year, the amount does not match funding needs.
“I want to assure the country that the policy on free primary and secondary education has not changed. The government will continue financing education through capitation as it has been over the years,” Bitok said.
“Growing demand means we must work even harder to ensure these investments reach every learner, especially through capitation. We are continuing to engage parliament so that we get the required resources to support education in this country,” he assured.
