Teachers and Education ministry officials found culpable for inflating school enrolment numbers or giving falsified data to benefit from education funds will face disciplinary measures, including interdiction and transfers.
So far, over 50,000 learners in the ministry records have been flagged as non-existent.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said the data verification exercise the ministry has been conducting since schools opened will be completed tomorrow.
The findings will also result in transfers of teachers, especially in schools that are under-enrolled but over-staffed, in a move meant to ensure better utilisation of resources.
“The delays were because there was a bit of resistance. However, they have opened up. The good thing is that as we complete [verification of data], we were releasing capitation. We keep receiving the data and there could be those whose data needed to be rechecked,” Mr Ogamba said.
He added he is unsure how long the problem has persisted since “this is the very first time we are taking the data of our children”.
“Because we do not have the right numbers, that is why we would go to the National Assembly and our budget is slashed,” he said.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok had hinted at the tough disciplinary measures when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Education committee last week.
“Once we conclude the verification exercise, any officer found culpable will not be spared. We will subject them to the full public service disciplinary procedures because this is not just a case of errors, it is a betrayal of public trust,” he said.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba (left) with Principal Secretary for the State Department of Technical, Vocational Education and Training Dr Esther Muoria during the Teacher Education Conference in Mombasa on September 23, 2025.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
According to the Disciplinary Manual for the Public Service penalties meted out vary depending on the nature and severity of the offense committed. Minor offenses may attract verbal or written warnings, while more serious misconduct can result in a formal reprimand from a superior.
In cases where investigations are necessary, an officer may be interdicted and temporarily barred from performing duties. Financial penalties include the withholding or stoppage of salary increments or a surcharge to recover costs incurred due to negligence.
More severe actions include demotion, and in the gravest cases, dismissal from the public service altogether.
Prof Bitok also said the verification report will affect the distribution of teachers in the country after the preliminary report showed a mismatch between enrolment and staffing.
“It is going to affect the distribution of teachers in our country. It is going to affect significantly because we will get a very clean picture of what is going on in the sector. We want to ensure we have the right data on the number of schools and learners,” said the PS.
When the PS appeared before the Education committee last week, the lawmakers accused the ministry of downplaying the scandal and warned against cover-ups. They demanded prosecution of officials implicated in the racket and pressed the PS to account for glaring discrepancies between learner numbers submitted by schools and those captured by sub-county directors of education.
“No, we don’t want you to do a reshuffle, we want disciplinary action. What was your director-general doing? What was your finance officer doing? People have to be held accountable,” said committee chairperson Julius Melly.
“We cannot allow public funds to be siphoned through fictitious schools and non-existent students. Anyone found culpable must face the full force of the law. Our children deserve better, and Kenyans must trust that every shilling allocated to education benefits real learners,” he added.
Mr Ogamba said that 25,800 out of the 32,000 schools (70 per cent) have had their data verified and learners’ funds sent to school accounts. He said the majority of the institutions verified so far are secondary schools, which urgently need funds.
More than Sh16 billion out of the Sh23 billion released by the National Treasury has already been disbursed to schools. However, the CS said once the data has been cleaned, the government will be able to fund learners in secondary schools at Sh22,244 per learner as per policy.
A circular released by the Education ministry shows that the government has this year under-funded learners. Each has received Sh15,385.12 which is 68.55 per cent of the expected amount.
The CS dismissed assertions by some school principals that the 50,000 “ghost” learners are those who were not captured because they lack birth certificates.
“We are not using birth certificates. The birth certificates were being used in Nemis [National Education Management Information System]. We just developed a tool to verify the number of students in a school, male, female, Grade One up to Nine so that we can compare. So we are not using birth certificates,” he added.
Mr Ogamba urged school heads to support the government on the data verification saying it will help in resolving the education funding challenges and make better decisions in the future.
Preliminary data from the audit shows that 3,485 primary schools missed government capitation funds after submitting wrong data, while about 1,949 secondary schools risk losing out for the same reason. Of these, 719 submitted wrong accounts details, while others gave incomplete data or submitted empty templates.
