NAIROBI, Kenya – Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has announced sweeping measures to root out fraudulent practices in public schools, including the existence of “ghost” students that have cost the government millions in lost education funds.
Ogamba said the ministry is nearing completion of a nationwide audit of schools and learners, which has already exposed over 50,000 fictitious students listed in official records.
The audit, now 75 per cent complete, could lead to the closure of some schools and prosecution of those involved in financial irregularities.
“If resources were sent to a bank for school X, we will have to find out who signed for those resources from that bank, and action will be taken because that is criminal,” Ogamba told senators on Wednesday.
The CS said the verification exercise will serve as a foundation for wide-ranging reforms aimed at ensuring efficient use of education funds and accurate student data.
“Part of the data collection involves the number of students in each institution and their current status. This will help the government decide whether some schools should remain registered,” he said.
Schools with 10 Pupils, Five Teachers
Preliminary findings show some schools have fewer than 10 students but employ up to five teachers.
Ogamba said such imbalances distort funding allocations and weaken the sector’s financial credibility.
“When we submit our budget to the Treasury and Parliament, it gets cut because we don’t all agree on the actual number of students,” he said, adding that reliable data will ensure fairer capitation and optimal teacher deployment.
The CS hinted that some learners could be transferred to other schools to balance teacher workloads and improve learning outcomes.
Audit to Cover All Education Funds
Ogamba also announced a comprehensive review of all funds allocated to education — including bursaries from government agencies, donors, and institutions — to establish the true cost of running the sector.
“We want to analyse whether, with the current number of learners, pooling all these resources could enable us to provide free education for all children,” he said.
New Data System to End Waste
To strengthen accountability, the ministry has rolled out the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) as a unified digital platform for data and planning.
“We want this ministry to have one single source of truth. Every activity will be linked through this system so that we can coordinate efforts and reduce waste,” Ogamba said.
He noted that inflated student figures have previously led to unnecessary procurement — such as the purchase of millions of extra textbooks.
“If there are 12 million students, only 12 million books should be bought. Sometimes, with five million students, we buy 12 million books — that’s waste,” he remarked.
The ministry hopes the reforms will tighten controls, restore trust in public spending, and deliver equitable funding to deserving schools.
