Schools Given Ultimatum to Register Learners on NEMIS or Risk Missing Out On Funds
The Ministry of Education has directed schools to register learners on the National Education Management System (NEMIS) portal as funds for next term will be based on learners registered on NEMIS.
The Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Education informed schools through a circular dated 10th March that the Ministry will not use manual enrolment records of students which have existed since 2003. This is because it is prone to errors and schools should ensure that learners are captured on the NEMIS platform as of April 2021.
For simple. Schools have until the end of this term to ensure learners are captured on NEMIS risk missing out on disbursements when the Ministry releases funds to schools in the third term.
Besides, the Principal Secretary issued a warning to school heads that they are solely responsible for data captured on NEMIS.
“Headteachers are responsible for any data regarding their school, this minimizes chances of human error, and any changes needed are made by the headteacher. This ensures the continuous update of data,” said Jwan.
This is another trial of changing the way of funding schools using NEMIS following a similar failed attempt in the year 2019.
This follows a similar announcement being revoked after many primary schools were found to not have captured their learners on NEMIS.
The headteachers on their part said that the time given for filling in the details was too little and that the process of getting birth certificates for learners was hectic.
This follows Secretary George Magoha’s announcement that all institutions of basic education (primary and secondary) shall receive Sh 15 billion capitations this week. Schools will use these funds to prepare for the KCPE and KCSE examinations.
According to CS Magoha, the money will cover balances that principals said caused financial problems that could make it hard to administer national examinations.
“We shall release the money next week to schools and therefore no one should attempt to cause panic or anxiety,” said Prof Magoha on Thursday, 4th of March, 2021.
The announcement is good news to the 7,000 secondary school heads who complained two weeks ago that they may not be able to prepare as required for the administration of the KCPE and KCSE examinations if the cash is not released.
The Ministry of Education disbursed Sh. 14.6 billion to secondary schools and another Sh. 4.6 billion for primary schools when schools reopened fully in January this year. This was after schools were closed in March to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Heads of Schools blamed the government for withholding a lot of funds, arguing that this could lead to schools falling into further crises.
However, the Ministry said that the money released was just 25 percent of the total amount that was supposed to be sent to schools during the first term.
The government’s model of financing free education is done in the ratio 50:30:20 ratio. This means that half of the funds are sent to schools at the beginning of the year i.e. in the first term. The other 30 percent and 20 percent disbursed in the second and third terms respectively.
School administrators said that the delayed release of the funds was to be used to purchase chemicals for practical and apparatus for use in science projects.
Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association Chairperson Kahi Indimuli said that the delays in disbursement would mean that thousands of Form Four candidates shall not sit for their examinations.
“As we speak, schools do not have money. The government promised to release the final tranche of 25 percent by the end of February,” Indimuli said last week.
Indimuli welcomed the announcement and hoped the money will be released without fail.
Besides, Indimuli said that preparations for Biology, Physics, and Chemistry papers might not be enough if the government does not release the funds in time.
Indimuli said that some schools do not even have important apparatus needed during the national examinations while some money may be needed for minor repairs in laboratories ahead of the examinations.
1,088,986 candidates are set to sit for the KCPE examinations starting from March 22 to March 24 while another 699,745 will sit for their KCSE examinations start on March 25.
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