Kenya’s constitutional guarantee of free basic education is facing serious challenges as new data reveals parents are covering more than 50% of school costs. This troubling finding emerged during a stakeholder forum organized by Mtoto News and civil society partners to examine the 2025/2026 national budget’s implications for children’s rights.
Bonyo Elijah Don, World Vision’s Director of Policy and Advocacy, presented alarming evidence of systemic funding failures. “Parents are effectively subsidizing education by contributing over half of school operating costs,” he noted, adding that this situation directly contradicts Kenya’s commitment to free basic education. The crisis stems from multiple structural problems in education financing.
Currently, Kenya lacks a comprehensive national database of school budgets, making it impossible to determine the true funding gap. “We have no mechanism to aggregate all school financial plans,” Bonyo explained. This data vacuum occurs alongside chronic underfunding of the State Department for Basic Education’s five-year strategic plan. “When budgets are cut but performance targets remain unchanged, the system is set up to fail,” he said, referencing a recent KSh 900 million reduction in capitation funding.
Further complicating matters, the 2025 Economic Survey exposed a troubling discrepancy between enrollment figures and budget allocations. While schools reported nearly 10 million primary-age students, the national education budget was based on significantly lower numbers. “This mismatch demands immediate explanation from education officials,” Bonyo insisted.
The forum also previewed an upcoming Children’s Voices report documenting students’ firsthand experiences with education challenges. According to Bonyo, this student feedback organized by county and specific issues—will provide crucial guidance for advocacy efforts moving forward.
Participants unanimously called for sweeping reforms, including transparent budget adjustments tied to funding changes, accurate student enrollment tracking, and creation of a national school financial database.
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The gathering at Nairobi’s Fairview Hotel brought together education experts, policymakers, and civil society representatives to analyze Parliament’s budget report through a child rights perspective.
