The Ministry of Education (MoE) has stepped up efforts to eliminate ghost schools and inflated enrolment figures, deploying teams across the country to verify learner data before releasing an official report.
Speaking during an interview on TV 47, Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok confirmed that the exercise, which began months ago, is still ongoing, with cross‑checks and validation continuing to ensure accuracy.
“We are fine‑tuning the numbers to avoid a misleading report. There are variances between previous capitation figures and the current data, but soon a comprehensive report will be presented to the National Assembly and shared with all Kenyans,” Bitok said.
The crackdown was triggered by a special audit by the Office of the Auditor General, which exposed massive fraud in the education sector. The audit revealed that 33 non‑existent schools had received billions of shillings in capitation over the past four years, while genuine institutions missed out on funding.
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By September 2025, the verification exercise had already uncovered more than 50,000 ghost learners in secondary schools, with officials noting that the problem was more pronounced at that level compared to primary and junior secondary. Bitok explained that enrolment data collected from NEMIS, school heads and sub‑county directors had been inflated, but once fresh figures were requested, numbers dropped significantly.
Bitok emphasised that the exercise is critical to ensuring accountability and accurate funding allocations. “We wanted to verify the number of students we have in our schools and the number of schools we have,” he said.
Concerns had been raised after capitation funds for the third term were delayed, sparking uproar among parents and educators. Bitok admitted the verification exercise contributed to the delay but assured that all schools eventually received their payments. “All schools in the country, whether primary or junior, have received their money, and all submitted their data digitally for verification,” he said.
To avoid similar disruptions, the MoE has already submitted a KSh44 billion capitation request for January, covering primary, junior and secondary schools. Bitok said the request was lodged early to give Treasury time to process payments.
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“We put in the request at the beginning of this month, at least four weeks before the term begins. Treasury has assured us that before the New Year, the money will be in our account. We have a cordial relationship with them and are engaging continuously,” he explained.
He acknowledged that competing financial obligations at Treasury, including debt repayments, can sometimes delay disbursements, but insisted that early requests and careful timing would stabilise capitation flows going forward.
By Masaki Enock
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