Education CS Ogamba tells MPs gov't is unaware of cost of educating each student

Members of Parliament have criticised Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba after he openly admitted that the government does not know how much it costs to educate a child in Kenya from Grade One to university.

Ogamba made the remarks on Wednesday during a parliamentary session held at Lake Naivasha Resort in Nakuru County, on the sidelines of an ongoing National Assembly retreat themed “Securing Parliamentary Legacy.”

“As a country, we don’t know how much it costs to educate a child from Grade One to university. No actuarial analysis has been done to know how much exactly,” Ogamba told MPs during his grilling.

“The question asked by Kathiani MP Robert Mbui is everything you would want to know about education and school fees, so the minister cannot tell us. He doesn’t know how much a kid costs to teach in this country,” Ochieng’ said.

“So on what basis do they give capitation in primary, secondary, and on what basis are they giving school fees for universities?” he posed.

Ochieng’ further questioned the credibility of the ministry’s budgeting process, noting that the handling of the questions reflected a lack of preparedness.

“If the CS says he doesn’t know how much it costs to educate a child in Kenya, how does he budget for them then? And who does the minister expect to do that analysis?” he asked.

“The handling of the questions reeks of a lack of knowledge of what the minister is supposed to do,."

In his response, CS Ogamba said the lack of data had persisted for years, despite growing pressure on the education sector.

“This analysis has never been done. Nobody has done it, and it is something that as a country today, because of the challenges we have, we need to face and do so that we have a clear picture,” he said.

“We have an X number of students. We need to know how much money is allocated to each of those children,” he added.

As MPs reacted loudly to Ogamba’s responses, Deputy Speaker Glady Boss sought to calm the House, saying the admission could be an opportunity for accountability.

“The good thing is that the minister has said he doesn’t know. What we should be doing in the follow-up questions is giving him a timeline to present that before the committee,” she said, as MPs burst into chants of “No.”

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula was forced to intervene, urging the CS to consult his technical team present at the session.

“Waziri, you have your technical team here. You are at liberty to ask them to assist you and give you the numbers so that you satisfy the House,” Wetang’ula said.

He asked MPs to allow the session to proceed, noting that they would still have an opportunity to seek further clarification.

“Please listen. Even if the answer falls short of your expectations, you have another round to ask questions,” he said.