NAIROBI, Kenya – The Ministry of Education has announced sweeping reforms in the management of school capitation funds after an Auditor General’s exposé revealed that 33 non-existent schools had received billions of shillings over the past four years.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba on Monday said the ministry has rolled out a nationwide validation exercise to ensure only legitimate schools with properly registered learners access government grants.
“Any anomalies detected will be investigated and appropriate legal action taken,” Ogamba warned, adding that the government was determined to weed out ghost schools and students that have inflated capitation bills for years.
New Conditions for Funding
Under the new rules, every school must undergo verification to confirm registration with the county education board and the appointment of a substantive principal by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) before funds are disbursed.
New schools applying for capitation will also be subjected to stricter vetting, including submission of Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) application forms, valid registration certificates, minutes of Board of Management meetings, official bank account details, and authentication letters from sub-county education offices containing Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) and Unique Identification Codes (UIC).
Ghost Learners Uncovered
Ogamba disclosed that so far, more than 29,000 of the country’s 32,000 public and private schools have been verified, with the ministry uncovering over 50,000 “ghost learners” during the exercise.
He noted that officials were cross-checking enrolment data against the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), authenticating school bank accounts, and reconciling records with past disbursements.
Previously, reliance on birth certificates for enrolment meant some learners were excluded from funding.
The ministry has now developed a verification tool to capture student numbers by gender and grade from Grade 1 to 9, ensuring more accurate data.
Full Capitation Rollout Planned
Ogamba said that once the data-cleaning process is complete, the government will fully implement the Sh22,244 capitation per learner in secondary schools.
“We want accurate data on the number of schools and learners by the end of this week. This will help close funding gaps and improve planning,” he said.
The new audit template requires head teachers to provide detailed learner information, including the Unique Personal Identifier (UPI), assessment number, full name, gender, date of birth, and disability status.
School heads have been urged to submit all learners’ UPIs for verification before capitation funds are released.
