Legislators express fear of missing billions amid NEMIS data gaps

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba. [File, Standard]

Lawmakers have expressed fears that billions channelled to schools through the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) may not have reached the intended target due to unverifiable data on the number of learners in the country.

The Public Accounts Committee yesterday raised concerns over the lack of reliable and verifiable data on the number of learners in the country, warning that the gap could affect the management and disbursement of education funds.

This emerged during a sitting of the watchdog committee chaired by Butere MP Tindi Mwale, which was examining the Auditor-General’s Report for the 2023/2024 financial year on the accounts of the State Department for Basic Education.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu, through her report, flagged the unconfirmed capitation payments for Free Primary Education (FPE), Junior Secondary Education (JSE) and Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE).

Gathungu highlighted that the Government disbursed Sh63.95 billion for free day secondary education, Sh30.99 billion for Junior Secondary Education and Sh9.05 billion for free primary education based on learner enrolment data captured in the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS).

However, the Auditor-General noted that there was no documentary evidence to confirm that the learner data in NEMIS had been verified by the respective Sub-County Education Offices before the funds were released.

Gathungu further noted that NEMIS continuously updates learner data and has no clear cut-off point, making it difficult to establish the exact number of learners at a particular time. The system, she noted, also does not register learners without birth certificates and does not provide funding for learners who have attained the age of 18.

And appearing before the committee, Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtua was taken to task over the challenges afflicting NEMIS. The House team sought to understand why key issues such as the lack of reliable and verifiable data had not been addressed since the 2023/2024 financial year to the current 2026/2027 FY.

“How sure are we that the that this money got to the intended students if your data is not verifiable? These are humans, these are children in schools and I would have thought that the Ministry should have surgical precision of handling data,” posed Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe.

The PS, while acknowledging challenges affecting NEMIS, said that the Ministry relied on data from a field verification exercise to disburse the funds.

“In the last instance, we did not use NEMIS to disburse the capitation funds. We relied on data verified from the field to make sure that the funds got to the schools,” he stated.

He also told of plans by the Ministry to shift from NEMIS to a new system named

the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) from next year.

The PS said NEMIS, which was introduced in 2017 to digitise learner records and support processes such as admissions, capitation and examination registration, has faced challenges including incomplete coverage, unreliable data and limited integration with other government systems.

His disclosure, however, drew sharp criticism from the House team, with the Committee questioning how the Government can determine the amount of capitation required without accurate and verified learner data.

“NEMIS was introduced to digitise student records and streamline processes such as capitation disbursement. Are you saying money is disbursed to unconfirmed learners?” posed chairperson Mwale.

He further demanded documentation showing how the Ministry decided to migrate from NEMIS to KEMIS, further warning that public funds should not be unnecessarily spent on the transition and demanded accountability for the process.

But in his defence, the PS said the weaknesses identified in NEMIS had not resulted in evidence of irregular capitation payments. He said the introduction of KEMIS was aimed at strengthening controls and improving the management of learner data.

“It was identified that there was a need for an integrated information system and KEMIS offers a unified data architecture and consistent information across various education sectors. The new system is, however, yet to be fully implemented,” stated Ololtua.

The committee subsequently directed that the PS provide the relevant documentation on the migration to KEMIS within two weeks.