The education sector has once again emerged as the biggest winner in Kenya’s national budget, receiving a record allocation of Ksh 658.4 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, underscoring the Kenya Kwanza administration’s continued prioritization of learning and human capital development.
While presenting the budget estimates to Parliament on Thursday, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said education remains the backbone of economic transformation, with direct links to innovation, productivity, and long-term growth.
“The education sector plays a vital role in economic development by enhancing human capital, driving innovation, and improving productivity,” said Mbadi.
“That’s why we’ve allocated a significant share of our national budget to this critical sector.”
The allocation accounts for 28 percent of the Sh4.29 trillion total expenditure for FY 2025/26, an increase from the Sh656.6 billion allocated in the previous fiscal year and Sh628.6 billion in 2023/24.
It reflects a consistent upward trend since the Sh544.4 billion allocated in FY 2022/23.
At the heart of the budget is a Ksh 387.2 billion allocation to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) — an increase of Sh29 billion from the previous year.
Mbadi said the TSC budget includes Ksh 7.2 billion for recruitment of intern teachers and Ksh 980 million for training under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) framework.
Other major allocations include: Ksh 58.5 billion for the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and university scholarships; Ksh 58.9 billion for Free Primary and Day Secondary Education;Ksh 28.9 billion for Junior Secondary School Capitation;Ksh 13.3 billion for the Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning programme; Ksh 7.7 billion in TVET capitation and scholarships; Ksh 5.9 billion for administration of school examinations; Ksh 3.0 billion for the School Feeding Programme; Ksh 2.3 billion for the Kenya Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project; and Ksh 0.7 billion for infrastructure development in primary and secondary schools.
CS Mbadi emphasized that the funding will support key priorities including teacher salaries, recruitment, training, and infrastructure development across basic, secondary, TVET, and university education levels.
In comparison, last year’s Basic Education budget was Sh142.3 billion, with Sh9.1 billion for free primary education, Sh61.9 billion for free day secondary education, and Sh30.7 billion for junior secondary schools.
“This investment reflects our government’s unwavering commitment to equity, access, and quality education for all learners,” Mbadi added.
With the new funding, the government also seeks to bolster its Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda by preparing a skilled workforce equipped for the 21st-century job market.
