Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba on Wednesday, January 28 ran into trouble with MPs when responding to queries on the state of schooling in Kenya.
Mr Ogamba surprised all when he said the ministry does not know how much it costs to educate a child to tertiary institutions.
“We actually do not know how much it costs to educate a child from Grade One to university,” Mr Ogamba told the Legislative Retreat in Naivasha, Nakuru County.
“The government gives capitation of Sh1,420, Sh15,000 and Sh22,000 for primary, junior school and senior school student respectively. The National Government Constituencies Development Fund and devolved governments give bursaries. Kenyans also raise funds and there is private sector contribution too.”
He told the lawmakers that the ministry, through the ongoing upgrade of the Kenya Education Management Information System, is creating a module that will give learners a unique number from ECDE to university.
“This will give an actual amount. The system will help us tell whether putting all the money in one basket can make the country achieve Article 53 of the Constitution on the provision of free and compulsory education,” Mr Ogamba said.
“We need to face this and do it in order to have a clear picture of how much should be allocated to every child.”
From the recent placement of learners in Grade 10, transition to junior school, funding and inequality in infrastructure in schools, MPs bombarded Mr Ogamba with questions and demanded clear answers.
Most expressed frustration at getting clarity on the fees charged by schools and on circulars issued to learning institutions that are not sanctioned by Parliament.
“You have a duty to listen to the answers even if they fall short of your expectations,” Mr Wetang’ula said.
Kathiani MP Robert Mbui demanded to know from the ministry the actual cost of educating a child in Kenya.
He sought to be informed why a learner’s annual funding in Grade Six is Sh1,420 but shoots to Sh15,000 when the child crosses to Grade Seven.
MPs take a group photo during day one of the four-day 2026 Legislative Retreat for Members of the National Assembly, at Lake Naivasha Resort in Naivasha, Nakuru County, on January 27, 2026.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
“What informs this huge jump in capitation, yet the two pupils are in the same school?” Mr Mbui asked.
Ugenya MP David Ochieng said school fees “is everything” and that the Cabinet Secretary cannot tell the sitting that the ministry does not know how much it costs to educate a child.
“So how does the government allocate funds? If the ministry has not carried out an actuarial study, who does it expect to do it?” Mr Ochieng asked.
Tempers flared, and at one point, National Assembly Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wah called Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok “clueless”.
Githunguri MP, Gathoni Wamuchomba, urged President William Ruto to dismiss Mr Ogamba and Prof Bitok.
“These two are not helping us,” she said.
According to Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo, the placement of Grade 10 learners “was the most absurd since some officials in the ministry messed it up”.
“We have the names of the officers but cannot mention them here because of the setting,” Mr Gisairo told Mr Ogamba and Prof Bitok.
“We have information that your officers interfered with the exercise and changed placements when the system went down, inconveniencing thousands of qualified students who were to be placed in C1 schools.”
He said there is a huge gap in the distribution of teachers in the Coast, giving the example of Bahari Girls School, “which has a deficit of 26 government teachers”.
“In some places in Central Kenya, the teacher deficit is 10 per cent. The figure can be up to 60 per cent in the Coast,” Mr Baya said.
He demanded to be informed why the government continues send more money to properly served regions and denies those underserved.
“Some places are blessed with good schools that were built by colonialists and are charging Sh500 as school fees per learner per term, while regions that have no schools continue to suffer,” he said.
Moiben MP Phylis Bartoo sought to know how the Teachers Service Commission distributes tutors. She said some schools have teachers, but no students.
“How will the ministry ensure learning goes on in a school like Pangani Girls, which has more than 4,000 students?” Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera asked.
Likoni’s Mishi Mboko accused the ministry of burdening Kenyans by changing learning textbooks and other learning materials every year, increasing the cost of junior and senior school.
For Nandi Hills MP Bernard Kitur, the government needs to consider having a standard uniform for all secondary schools in an effort to reduce costs.
