Embakasi East Member of Parliament (MP) Babu Owino has called on the government to take full responsibility for the cost of education in the country.
In a statement shared on his X account, Owino made the case for free, high-quality education from pre-school to university, arguing that the government stands to benefit more from the success of educated citizens than their parents.
According to the legislator, the government should bear all educational costs because educated citizens contribute significantly to the nation’s economic and social development.
He argued that the government reaps the most benefits from an educated populace.
“Educated citizens are creative and lead to increased per capita production of the country. Hence, they help the government achieve its aims. Not their parents,” Owino stated.
The MP further emphasized that the government, as the chief custodian of the common good, is responsible for ensuring that citizens are well-educated, as they contribute to the nation’s overall progress.
He highlighted that when individuals graduate, secure jobs, and start earning, the government collects a significant portion of their income through taxes.
“When citizens graduate and get jobs and begin earning, say at Kshs 100,000 per month, the government takes away more than 50% (30% income tax, 16% VAT, and 5% in others like fuel levy et al.). That’s more than Kshs50,000 out of the Kshs100,000 per month. Government is hence the beneficiary of meaningful education for our children. Not parents,” the lawmaker noted.
Owino also pointed out that parents rarely benefit financially from their children’s success, as they do not receive a share of the income. He questioned why parents should be left to struggle to fund their children’s education when the government profits the most from their success.
“No parent ever touches Ksh30,000 from their children’s monthly earnings. Why should a poor parent die struggling to educate a child whose success will be harvested by the government anyway?” he questioned.
The MP reiterated that the government is the ultimate beneficiary of all education initiatives in the country and should, therefore, provide free, compulsory education to all Kenyans.
“The government is the ultimate beneficiary of all education initiatives of the children of Kenya. Hence, the government should offer free, compulsory, high-quality education to Kenyans from pre-school to post-university. This will be in pursuit of the government’s enlightened self-interest,” he stated.
Babu Owino’s remarks come amid growing concerns over the high cost of education in Kenya with debates around the viability of the new university funding model and the High Court’s ruling on the cessation of NG-CDF.
MPs on free education
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris proposed a motion in parliament calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the bursary system, arguing that centralizing the funds would better support free basic education by channelling the money directly to schools.
Passaris suggested that pooling all bursaries under the State Department of Basic Education would ensure equitable and free access to education.
“This House urges the government, through the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders, to undertake a comprehensive overhaul of the education bursary system. This is with a view to collapsing all bursary schemes and allocating the funds to the State Department of Basic Education for the provision of free basic education through capitation to be directly remitted to schools,” Passaris said in parliament.
However, MPs were unanimous in rejecting this approach, warning that such centralization would harm access to bursaries, particularly for needy students in rural areas.
The NG-CDF currently allocates 35 per cent of its Ksh137 million budget—about Ksh48 million—to bursaries. During a heated parliamentary debate, lawmakers voiced their refusal to support any proposal to consolidate all bursary schemes into a single, centralized fund.
The MPs opposed efforts to centralize the NG-CDF and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), which together distribute significant amounts in bursaries, including Ksh1.5 billion across 47 counties.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula’s office is currently leading a legislative push to centralize bursaries, but MPs insisted that the current decentralized structure is crucial for equitable distribution.
Nyali MP Mohammed Ali argued that centralization would hinder access, particularly for those far from Nairobi. He emphasized that devolving resources to the grassroots is essential to ensuring fairness.
“Hon Passaris is proposing all money be put in one basket, how will it be? We fought against centralising everything so that the resources be devolved to the people at the grassroots,” Mohamed Ali said.