The Ministry of Education has found over 50,000 ghost students in secondary schools during the ongoing school data verification process. 

This means that the government has lost over Ksh1.1 billion sponsoring these students every year, making a total of Ksh4.4 billion over the course of the students’ lives in secondary schools.

The verification process, which is still ongoing, is necessary to ensure that the government disburses education capitation to legitimate primary, junior, and secondary schools and students.

So far, according to Basic  Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, only 17,400 out of 32,000 schools have been cleared to receive capitation from the government after the verification.

Bitok, who revealed this while appearing before the National Assembly’s Education Committee, noted that out of the Ksh23 billion meant for school capitation, Ksh13 billion has already been disbursed to schools.

According to Bitok, after the verification process is complete and the ghost students and schools are weeded out, the total number of learners in these institutions might decrease by 10 per cent, as well as the number of schools.

“We are expecting a huge reduction in the number of students by 5 to 10 per cent, and we are also expecting a huge reduction in the number of schools. I wouldn’t tell you the percentage now, but we are expecting a huge reduction, and it’s going to affect results, which is going to impact the resources we are sending to schools,” Bitok stated.

“Out of the Ksh23 billion, we have disbursed 60 per cent, which is about Ksh13 billion, and the process is ongoing even as we speak. The process of disbursement is still going on; we have teams doing the verifying,” he added. 

According to the PS, the ministry will, in January 2026, launch the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), which will enhance the management of student and school data.

The announcement by the PS comes two weeks after the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) warned that school heads might be forced to close down before mid-term if the government fails to disburse capitation funds for the third term on time.

According to the KUPPET Chairperson, through a statement on Sunday, August 31, the lack of timely capitation has undermined the school heads’ ability to manage the institutions effectively.

“In the first term, some schools closed earlier because there was no money in the schools, so we are insisting that the government has a responsibility to release the money to schools so that the learners can get quality education,” Milemba said.