Naivasha MP questions govt directive on Grade 10 students
Education
By
Anthony Gitonga
| Jan 25, 2026
Naivasha MP Jane Kihara has dismissed the directive by the Ministry of Education to Chiefs to round up all students who missed out on joining Grade 10, terming it as an exercise in futility.
The vocal MP noted that the country’s education sector was headed to the drains due to poor planning, lack of funding, and poor leadership.
Early in the week, the Ministry sought the help of Chiefs and local administration in tracing the over 400,000 learners who have failed to report to senior secondary schools.
According to the MP, harsh economic times had left parents between a rock and a hard place, with many unable to raise school fees.
Kihara hit out at the Kenya Kwanza administration for lavish spending through the ongoing empowerment programmes as families continued to sleep hungry.
She noted that many senior secondary schools faced an acute shortage of teachers, classes, and learning materials even as the President and his henchmen continued to politic.
“Parents have simply failed to take their children to school due to lack of fees, and it’s sickening when the top leadership goes around dishing cash in the name of empowerment,” she said.
Kihara was speaking in Kinamba center in Naivasha, where she issued bursary cheques worth Sh88m to needy students in secondary, colleges, universities, and special institutions.
“The number of parents seeking bursary is on the rise, and this is due to the harsh economic times, which have been made worse by this government that doesn’t care,” she said.
On politics, Kihara, who is a close ally of former DP Rigathi Gachagua, defended recent defections by some leaders from DCP back to UDA.
Kihara accused the President of using cash and intimidation, noting that Kenyans had learnt the hard way and would not be conned come 2027.
She confirmed that DCP was in talks with Uhuru Kenyatta-led Jubilee Party with a view to uniting Central Kenya before the next general elections.
“Some of those who claim to have left DCP have been involved in past scandals, including self-abduction, and it's good riddance for us,” she said.
A care-giver Ruth Wangari, noted that many families could not raise a meal or school fees due to the harsh economic times, terming the bursary by the MP as God-sent.
This was echoed by another beneficiary, Esther Muthoni, who said that she solely relied on the bursary as she could not raise the required school fees.