MPs slam Grade 10 transition as Education ministry cites Ksh.48B deficit

The National Assembly has lashed out at the Ministry of Education over the ongoing transition of students to Grade 10 terming the exercise as a sham and a total failure.

The MPs dismissed the ministry’s statement that the transition rate stood at 97 percent, noting that hundreds of students were still at home despite a directive by the government for school heads to admit all students.

This emerged during the ongoing 2026 legislative retreat for Members of Parliament in Naivasha where Education Cabinet secretary Migos Ogamba was taken to task for playing to the gallery and failing to address challenges in the sector.

During the session, the ministry reported 97 percent success in Grade 10 transition, 50 percent release in capitation but admitted that distribution of textbooks was low at 57 percent.

First to fire the salvo was Ugenya MP David Ochieng who said that there was a lot of confusion in the transition and disbursement of capitation fees.

Ochieng dismissed the transition rate terming this as a guess work by the ministry while adding that hundreds of students were still stranded at home with schools yet to get capitation funds.

“The Ministry of Education has failed in the ongoing transition of students to Grade 10 and the CS is just dishing out figures that do not add up or have value,” he said.

This was echoed by his Nyatike counterpart Tom Odege who dismissed CS Ogamba’s report that the government had released 50 percent capitation noting that this was not the issue on the ground.

He added that placement of students in Grade 10 was shrouded in confusion and anarchy, with some schools overwhelmed by admission and others without students.

“We want the CS to list schools that will benefit from new laboratories and we are concerned about donor funding going to two counties of Nyamira and Kisii only,” he said.

Nyeri Woman Representative Rahab Mukami said the transition rate in her county remained at around 45 percent despite the government directive to Chiefs and heads of schools.

She noted that gains made in the education sector for years could be eroded by bad leadership in the ministry despite concerted efforts by leaders to address the challenges.

“All these bursaries in counties and MPs’ kitties should be taken to one basket and distributed at national level as currently many deserving cases are missing out,” she said.

Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Ombane took issue with the 57 percent book distribution by the ministry after years of preparations terming this as a major failure by the government.

“The ministry says that it's still collecting data on the number of students who have reported to school and adds that it has released capitation funds and we are wondering how they calculated these figures,” he said.

Addressing the MPs, CS Ogamba said that the Ministry faced a Ksh.48 billion deficit, a move that was affecting procurement of learning materials and construction of classes and labs.

Despite the challenges, he said the ministry had recorded 97 percent transition to Grade 10 with the government releasing 50 percent capitation to all public schools.

“We have a deficit of Ksh.48 billion but the government is working to build 1,600 laboratories while hiring more teachers to address the current shortage across the country,” he said.

On the low distribution of textbooks to schools, he attributed this to Ksh.11 billion owed to publishers adding that the government has since paid Ksh.5.6 billion and publishing of the books for Grade 10 had resumed.

“The government is fully committed to supporting the education sector and there are no plans to reduce capitation or phase out free education as alleged in some quarters,” he said.