The budget for Kenya’s education sector is going down, even though more students are enrolling in schools, according to a report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
The report says that the government’s spending on education will decrease from Sh601.5 billion in the 2023/24 financial year to Sh594.2 billion in 2024/25. Money for salaries and daily operations will drop by 1.7% to Sh566.1 billion, but spending on development projects will rise by 9.8% to Sh28.1 billion.
The report also shows that different parts of the education sector will see mixed changes in their budgets. The Teachers Service Commission’s budget will increase from Sh334.7 billion to Sh346.8 billion, with their operational costs also going up by 3.6%.
Basic Education will get Sh115.9 billion, which is a 7.1% increase from last year, making up a large portion of the development budget. However, the vocational training department will face an 8.5% cut, receiving Sh23.1 billion.
Despite these budget changes, the education sector has grown, with more schools and students. The number of basic learning institutions rose by 38.8% to 129,463 in 2024, mainly due to new junior schools. Pre-primary schools increased by 1.8% to 47,760, primary schools by 9.6% to 38,997, and secondary schools slightly to 10,755.
Technical and vocational training institutions grew by 6.9% to 2,756, and the number of universities increased from 70 to 72.
Student enrollment also went up. Pre-primary enrollment rose from 2.89 million to 2.91 million. Primary and junior school enrollment increased by 3.2% to 10.73 million, while secondary school enrollment grew by 5.2% to 4.32 million. Enrollment in vocational training jumped by 10.4% to 709,885 students. University enrollment is expected to rise from 579,000 to 629,100.
However, the number of teachers in public primary schools fell by 3.2% to 212,602 due to reasons like retirement and other factors. In contrast, the number of teachers in public secondary schools and training colleges increased to 130,818.
On funding, the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) significantly increased support for university students, with loans rising by 59.5% to Sh46.9 billion. However, funding through the Universities Fund dropped sharply from Sh30.0 billion to Sh12.9 billion.
The director of the KNBS explained that funding is changing, with students now receiving funds directly instead of universities getting tuition fees.
The report also mentioned improvements in the health sector and national security, noting a decrease in crime but a concern over the number of police officers per person.