Every year, the government of Kenya spends the money it collects from taxes, loans, and other sources to run its operations, conduct routine maintenance activities on existing infrastructure, develop critical sectors, and pay salaries and benefits to its employees.
Education is a key government expense that hasn't been devolved. As a result, the government must allocate it a significant share of its budget every year.
Education expenditure as % of government expenditure on ministries and departments
In the Financial Year 2023/2024, the government spent Ksh 666 billion on education out of a total government expenditure on MDAs of Ksh 2.1 trillion.[1]
Education accounted for 31.2% of the total government expenditure on ministries and departments.
Education expenditures can be divided into three sectors: the Teachers Service Commission, the State Department for Basic Education, and the State Department for Higher Education and Research.
As the chart below shows, education spending in the three departments accounted for the highest government expenditure on MDAs.
The Teachers Service Commission spent Ksh 342.4 billion, the State Department of Higher Education and Research spent 148.8 billion, and the State Department for Basic Education spent 124.6 billion.
Cumulatively, the three education sectors spent Ksh 640.96 billion on recurrent expenditure in the Financial Year 2023/2024.
Education expenditure as % of the total government expenditure
Government expenditure in a typical year usually includes recurrent and development expenditures on ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as expenditure on Consolidated Fund Services (CFS).
Consolidated Fund Services are fixed or non-discretionary payments such as pensions, debt interest payments, and salaries of constitutional officeholders.
The total government expenditure on Consolidated Fund Services in Financial Year 2023/2024 was Ksh 1.76 trillion, bringing the total government expenditure in 2023/2024 to Ksh 3.89 trillion.
Education spending as a share of total government expenditure in the Financial Year 2023/2024 was 17.1%.
Annual expenditure on education has been increasing
In the Financial Year 2013/2014, total education spending on development and recurrent expenditure was Ksh 247.48 billion. Development spending was Ksh 13.79 billion, while recurrent expenditure was Ksh 233.7 billion.[2]
Ten years later, in the Financial Year 2023/2024, the total education spending on development and recurrent expenditure increased to Ksh 666.08 billion. Development spending was Ksh 25.1 billion, while recurrent spending was Ksh 640.96 billion.
The chart below shows the trend in education spending from 2014 to 2024. The Teachers Service Commission is the largest education expense, followed by spending on Basic Education and higher education.
Expenditure by the Teachers Service Commission
In the Financial Year 2013/2014, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) spent Ksh 154.8 billion on recurrent expenditures. In 2023/2024, the TSC's recurrent expenditures rose to Ksh 342.4 billion.
Below is a breakdown of TSC's recurrent expenditure.
FY 2013/ 2014 154.8 billion
FY 2014/ 2015 166.0 billion
FY 2015/ 2016 185.8 billion
FY 2016/ 2017 190.4 billion
FY 2017/ 2018 217.1 billion
FY 2018/ 2019 240.1 billion
FY 2019/ 2020 255.8 billion
FY 2020/ 2021 274.9 billion
FY 2021/ 2022 288.8 billion
FY 2022/ 2023 298.7 billion
FY 2023/ 2024 342.4 billion
Expenditure by the State Department for Basic Education
The State Department for Basic Education spent Ksh 48.5 billion on recurrent expenditure and Ksh 5.0 billion on development expenditure in FY 2014/2015.
In 2023/2024, the Department for Basic Education spent Ksh 124.6 billion on recurrent expenditures and Ksh 15.6 billion on development.
Below is a breakdown of the State Department for Basic Education's recurrent and development expenditures from 2013 to 2024.
FY 2014/2015 Recurrent 48.5 billion
Development 5.0 billion
FY 2015/2016 Recurrent 53.1 billion
Development 3.5 billion
FY 2016/2017 Recurrent 53.5 billion
Development 8.1 billion
FY 2017/2018 Recurrent 80.2 billion
Development 7.0 billion
FY 2018/2019 Recurrent 83.4 billion
Development 6.1 billion
FY 2019/2020 Recurrent 80.6 billion
Development 3.4 billion
FY 2020/2021 Recurrent 85.9 billion
Development 6.6 billion
FY 2021/2022 Recurrent 91.3 billion
Development 7.2 billion
FY 2022/2023 Recurrent 103.9 billion
Development 17.1 billion
FY 2023/2024 Recurrent 124.6 billion
Development 15.6 billion
Expenditure by the State Department of Higher Education and Research
Expenditure by the State Department of Higher Education and Research includes financing for universities and TVETs.
It can be divided into two constituent departments: the State Department for Vocational and Technical Training and the State Department for University Education.
Expenditure by the State Department for University Education
In the 2016/2017 Financial Year, the State Department for University Education spent Ksh 46.6 billion on recurrent activities and Ksh 7.9 billion on development activities.
In 2023/2024, it had a recurrent expenditure of Ksh 148.8 billion and a development expenditure of Ksh 2.7 billion.
Below is a breakdown of recurrent and development expenditures by the State Department for University Education.
FY 2016/2017 Recurrent 46.7 billion
Development 7.9 billion
FY 2017/2018 Recurrent 72.96 billion
Development 3.9 billion
FY 2018/2019 Recurrent 83.8 billion
Development 11.1 billion
FY 2019/2020 Recurrent 62.8 billion
Development 6.4 billion
FY 2020/2021 Recurrent 55.3 billion
Development 2.6 billion
FY 2021/2022 Recurrent 95.7 billion
Development 3.7 billion
FY 2022/2023 Recurrent 60.6 billion
Development 1.9 billion
FY 2023/2024 Recurrent 148.8 billion
Development 2.7 billion
Expenditure by the State Department for Technical and Vocational Training
The recurrent expenditure for the State Department for Technical and Vocational Training in the Financial Year 2016/2017 was Ksh 2.4 billion, while the development expenditure was Ksh 8.1 billion.
In 2023/2024, the department's recurrent expenditure was Ksh 25.1 billion, while the development expenditure was Ksh 6.2 billion.
Below is a breakdown of the recurrent and development expenditure of the State Department for Vocational and Technical Training.
FY 2016/2017 Recurrent 2.4 billion
Development 8.1 billion
FY 2017/2018 Recurrent 2.4 billion
Development 3.5 billion
FY 2018/2019 Recurrent 8.2 billion
Development 4.4 billion
FY 2019/2020 Recurrent 13.6 billion
Development 6.9 billion
FY 2020/2021 Recurrent 12.9 billion
Development 3.4 billion
FY 2021/2022 Recurrent 18.7 billion
Development 2.2 billion
FY 2022/2023 Recurrent 14.3 billion
Development 2.2 billion
FY 2023/2024 Recurrent 25.1 billion
Development 6.2 billion
See Also
- National government expenditure on health
- Total pending bills by national and county governments
- National government expenditure on foreign travel
