Clueless: Where is 97pc transition? Education bosses on receiving end

CS for Education Julius Ogamba address MPs during their retreat in Naivasha.[Antony Gitonga, Standard]

The crisis in the education sector came into sharp focus during the ongoing National Assembly retreat in Naivasha, where MPs launched a blistering attack on Ministry of Education officials over the chaotic transition to Grade 10.

Led by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, legislators accused the Principal Secretary in the ministry, Julius Bitok, of incompetence and urged Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba to urgently put his house in order.

Ichung’wah openly reprimanded the PS, saying: “You have the most clueless PS in the Ministry of Education, most clueless. He only sits in Nairobi and has no idea what happens on the ground. Get out of your office and go to the ground to deal with the problems.”

The Kikuyu MP made the remarks after highlighting multiple challenges bedevilling the sector, challenging Ogamba to act decisively.

In his submissions, Ichung’wah said corruption had crept into schools, with parents being forced to pay for desks and lunch programmes without clear plans or accountability.

He called on the CS to issue a gazette notice standardising the prices of desks and uniforms, claiming some school heads were diverting funds meant for desk maintenance and instead pushing MPs to purchase desks using National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) allocations.

Other MPs joined the onslaught, dismissing the ministry’s claim that the Grade 10 transition rate stood at 97 per cent. They said hundreds of learners remained at home despite a government directive requiring schools to admit all students.

The criticism follows the recent Grade 10 placement fiasco that plunged parents and learners into confusion and anger.

The Senior School placement mix-up triggered widespread chaos, with hundreds of thousands of learners facing inappropriate school placements, rejected appeals, assignments to distant schools, mismatched career pathways, high costs, and allegations of bribery.

The unfolding drama has exposed systemic flaws and undermined the goal of full transition from junior to senior school.

There were also strange cases reported by parents whose children were transitioning to Grade 10 after the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) examinations.

The sector is further strained by chronic underfunding, including a Sh64 billion financing gap over five years and mounting institutional debt. However, questions were raised as to why MPs chose to vent their frustration at a retreat rather than summoning officials to Parliament for formal scrutiny.

Ugenya MP David Ochieng detailed the confusion, saying nothing appeared to be working from student transition to the disbursement of capitation funds.

Ochieng dismissed the reported transition rate as guesswork, saying many learners were still stranded at home while schools had not received capitation.

“The Ministry of Education has failed in the ongoing transition of students to Grade 10, and the CS is just dishing out figures that do not add up or have value,” he said.

During the session, the ministry reported a 97 per cent transition rate, a 50 per cent release of capitation funds, and admitted that textbook distribution stood at just 57 per cent.

Nyatike MP Tom Odege echoed Ochieng’s concerns, dismissing claims that 50 per cent capitation had been released, saying this was not factual.

He added that Grade 10 placement had been anarchic, with some schools overwhelmed by admissions while others had no students at all.

Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Ombane took issue with the 57 per cent textbook distribution, terming it a major government failure given years of preparation. Addressing MPs, Ogamba said the ministry was grappling with a Sh48 billion deficit, which had affected procurement of learning materials and the construction of classrooms and laboratories.

Despite the challenges, he maintained that the ministry had achieved a 97 per cent transition rate and released 50 per cent capitation to all public schools.

“We have a deficit of Sh48 billion but the government is working to build 1,600 laboratories while hiring more teachers to address the current shortage across the country,” he said.

On the low distribution of textbooks, Ogamba attributed the delays to Sh11 billion owed to publishers, noting that Sh5.6 billion had since been paid and printing of Grade 10 textbooks had resumed.

“The government is fully committed to supporting the education sector and there are no plans to reduce capitation or phase out free education as alleged in some quarters,” he said.

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Nyeri Woman Representative Rahab Mukami said the transition rate in her county stood at about 45 per cent despite directives to chiefs and school heads.

She warned that gains made in the education sector over the years risk being eroded by poor leadership at the ministry.

“All these bursaries in counties and MPs’ kitties should be taken to one basket and distributed at the national level, as currently many deserving cases are missing out,” she said.