Withholding KCPE, KCSE certificates is illegal; CS Ogamba cautions principals

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has warned school principals against withholding school certificates of students who completed the KCPE or KCSE examination.

According to the CS, it is against Kenyan law to hold crucial documents regardless of the reasons provided by the school administration.

“Holding a students Certificate when they have completed school on the basis of either school fees or that a student lost a book, or a student broke a window is illegal. I gave a directive that all the certificates that have been withheld and some I understand for over 10years, need to be released and those principles need to get other methods of recovering whatever dues that might have arisen,” Ogamba said as he oversaw the unveiling of participants in the Huawei ICT competition.

The CS insisted that the 14-day order to release the withheld documents is in place, and necessary measures shall be taken in case the documents aren’t released to rightful owners.

According to the CS, the directive applies to both public and private-owned learning institutions. He said the order is in line with the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) Act of 2012.

Ogamba urged principals to seek alternative means of recovering money owed by students; including seeking legal redress in courts.

The directive comes amid plans by the state to move custody of school certificates to education officers rather than schools.