Education PS flags possible scrapping of C4 schools

State Department for Basic Education PS Julius Bitok before the National Assembly Committee on Education, at Continental House, Parliament, Nairobi. February 24, 2026. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The Ministry of Education may be forced to scrap Category 4 (C4) schools after more than 1,000 of them failed to receive a single Grade 10 learner during this year’s placement, Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok has announced.

Bitok said the trend points to a deepening lack of confidence among learners and parents, driven largely by inadequate infrastructure in the majority of C4 institutions.

He argued that the government is rethinking its investment model, saying it makes more sense to expand well-performing Category 1 schools that already accommodate high numbers of students.

“If a school has accommodated 700 learners this year, why can’t we improve it so that it can accommodate double that number next year?” he posed, insisting that strengthening already competitive schools would give learners equal opportunity to experience top learning environments.

Bitok’s remarks, however, have sparked concern across the education sector as questions mount about the fate of more than 7,000 C4 schools, which make up the majority of senior schools under the new structure.

Stakeholders fear that scrapping or starving these schools of resources could deal a major blow to access and equity, two pillars on which the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) was built.

KUPPET Secretary-General Akelo Misori warned that many C4 schools have struggled not because they lack students, but because they lack the basic resources needed to attract them.

“These are the places where transfers are very normal and therefore, the learners cannot be sure that the teachers are there. The most important facility in a school is the teacher, the laboratory, the classrooms and other learning materials. How do you expect a school which has never seen a laboratory to attract learners?” Misori questioned.

He argued that instead of focusing on already well-equipped schools, the ministry should invest proportionately across all institutions to build capacity based on need and the pathways they offer.

“When learners know there is a sports pathway, they will go to that school. But if we only develop schools like Kadenyo, Tunga, Kisii or Kisii School, which already have facilities, we are missing the point,’’ he said.

Misori cautioned that failing to support the newer or smaller schools would effectively shut them down.

“If you deny them the opportunity to have learners, then you are closing them down. We don’t want a policy that only builds traditional national schools while others collapse,’’ the SG noted.

KUPPET Deputy Secretary-General Moses Nthurima echoed these concerns, saying the government’s infrastructure focus appears skewed toward elite schools such as Alliance and Nairobi School.

“They are starting to build more dormitories and classrooms in schools where a lot of learners wanted to go, instead of improving the schools that were not selected during placement. Most of the schools that were not selected happen to be C4 schools, and this deals a blow to access,’’ said Nthurima.

He noted that many parents cannot afford to send children to top boarding schools, which is why day schools, the backbone of CBC, and make the most number of C4 schools, must be protected.

“One of the concepts of education is to expand access. When you deal a blow to access, you are killing education because day schools in the villages promote access for everybody,’’ he said.

He added that by continuously financing the same historically strong schools, sometimes to the tune of hundreds of millions, while leaving day schools behind, the government is reversing its own stated bottom-up philosophy.

“This bottom-up approach is a fallacy as regards education. We need the children to be in the villages so parents can play their role. Promoting only top schools is a paradox,’’ he said.

Both officials warned that the 1,000 schools currently without Grade 10 learners could soon be empty, leaving teachers displaced and communities without accessible learning centres.

As the ministry moves to finalise its infrastructure strategy for senior secondary, stakeholders say the government must confront a critical question: will Kenya build an equitable system, or will thousands of schools be left to fade out?