Ghost schools get millions amid looming death of free education

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba addresses the Press in Naivasha where he rooted for the Open education system to bring down the cost of university education, on June 6, 2025. [Antony Gitonga, Standard] 

Parents might soon pay fees for their children after top officials declared that the government was unable to fund free education even as it emerged that millions of shillings have been spent on ghost schools.

On Thursday, MPs flagged schools that received up to a whopping Sh100 million as capitation last year.

The details tabled at the National Assembly Education Committee revealed that two institutions — Bomet High School and Kamuret Secondary School — each received Sh50 million for the 2024/2025 academic year.

Yet, according to Luanda MP Dick Maungu, these schools don’t exist. This exposé comes as Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi disclosed a sharp cut in capitation for secondary schools — from Sh22,244 to Sh16,900 per learner — citing fiscal constraints.

For the current financial year, schools are owed more than Sh18 billion in capitation funds. According to figures presented by the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) during their 48th Annual National Conference, the government has disbursed only Sh12.3 billion out of an expected Sh22.1 billion as of the end of Term II (See table)

But this is not a one-year anomaly. Between 2020 and 2023, secondary schools received significantly less than the official per-student capitation amount of Sh22,244. Much of the allocated funds are retained by the Ministry or redirected to infrastructure, leaving schools starved of operational cash.

For example, in 2022/2023, schools received Sh14,701 per student after Sh2,637 was retained by the Ministry and Sh5,000 was diverted to the infrastructure fund — leaving only Sh9,701 for actual school operations.

A similar trend was observed in the two preceding years, with the average operational funds available to schools stagnating at just Sh10,479.

On Thursday, Mbadi said Kenya has been living a lie in the promise to provide free education, arguing that the government is no longer able to sustain free primary and secondary education.

This, he explained, is due to the huge debt obligations the country is expected to meet each year that has shrinked funds available for other functions among them school funding.

A heated exchange erupted in Parliament as MPs fingered the Ministry of Education for overseeing the misappropriation of funds meant to go to schools.

Mbadi and his education counterpart, Julius Ogamba were hard-pressed to explain how ghost schools are funded and the inconsistencies in school funding.

The scandal casts a harsh light on the school financial mess, where ghost institutions thrive while public schools collapse under pressure from underfunding, pending bills, and unpaid staff.

The MPs questioned the government's priorities, and how the Ministry of Education funded institutions that are non-existent got funding and those under who facilitated the transaction.

MPs further sought answers from Mbadi over inconsistencies in school funding, with legislators accusing the government of misleading Kenyans on the true state of capitation—even as billions are reportedly lost to ghost schools.

CS Ogamba, who appeared alongside Mbadi, struggled to explain how these allocations were approved, with MPs demanding a full audit of all schools receiving state funding.

“Before the funds are transferred, someone has to sign off for the transaction, that is a good place to start the investigation on who is responsible for funding the non-existent schools,” Ogamba said.

And for the first time, the Education Ministry revealed that they are in no position to truly ascertain the number of students in schools and even the real number of public schools in the country, thus opening the floodgates for misappropriation.

However, Mbadi argued that the government is no longer able to sustain free primary and secondary education.

“The budget cannot support the Sh22,000. And you know, it is Parliament that passes the budget. And you can take the figures and calculate. I say, you see the problem is we live a lie,” Mbadi said.

However, the government position enraged MPs, who questioned how ghost schools could get millions while real learners go without desks, textbooks, and food.

The MPs questioned why the government keeps quoting an inflated amount of funding provided to schools when the amount that actually gets to schools is way less.

“Why do we keep quoting Sh22,000 per learner when we have never met that figure? Say the truth — you’re only able to fund Sh16,000 per child,” Julius Taitumu, MP Igembe South said.

The Education Committee has now called for a full audit of school allocations and questioned how ghost institutions were still being funded. 

"We cannot have a government that keeps telling us that there is no money, but the activities on Fridays in this country show the exact opposite. Our priorities are misplaced, and that’s what we need to fix," Clive Gisairo, Kitutu Masaba MP said.

However, some legislators have also questioned if it is time for the government to relook funding and shift part of the cost back to parents.

Kibra MP Peter Orero suggested that if the State cannot fully fund learners, the government should rethink going back to cost-sharing. “If the government cannot fund schools then let schools be allowed to charge parents the difference,” Orero said on Thursday.

The timing of the revelations is especially alarming, as the Ministry of Education is struggling to implement the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) amid complaints from parents and teachers about inadequate resources.

On Thursday, Kessha chairman Willy Kuria said the government should provide an alternative 

“Parents are lynching school heads because the government says that a certain amount of money is released in schools and parents should not be pay anything, this is a lie and they should come out and tell us if they are providing Sh16,000 then how do schools meet the deficit?” he told the Standard in a phone interview.

A document by Kessha shows that the institutions have been receiving an average of Sh 10,479 in the past three financial years.

In the 2020/2021 the schools received Sh10,697, in the 2021/2022 he received Sh11,039 and in 2022/2023 the schools got a mere Sh9,701.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Secretary General also called on parents to prepare to pay for their children fees when schools open next term noting that the government is focused on privitisation of education.