Teachers and Ministry Officials Face Interdiction, Transfers, and Dismissal Over Falsified Enrolment Data.
Teachers and ministry officials found culpable of inflating enrollment numbers or submitting fake data to benefit from education funds will face disciplinary action including interdiction, transfer and dismissal where applicable.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has confirmed that over 50,000 learners recorded in ministry’s database have been flagged as non-existent following the ongoing national data verification exercise. The exercise started when schools reopened and is expected to be completed tomorrow.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, the findings will also require transfer of teachers in schools where staffing levels do not match verified enrollment figures. This is to ensure equitable distribution of personnel and efficient use of resources.
“The delays were because there was a bit of resistance. But they have opened up. The good thing is that as we complete [data verification], we are releasing capitation. We keep getting the data and there are those whose data needs to be rechecked,” Mr. Ogamba said. He added that the ministry cannot tell how long the issue has been there, “this is the first time we are taking the data of our children.”
Mr. Ogamba also said inaccurate enrollment data has direct consequences on budget allocations. “Because we don’t have the right numbers, that’s why we go to the National Assembly and our budget is cut,” he said.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Education Committee last week reiterated that action will be taken against culpable officers.
“Once we complete the verification exercise, any officer found culpable will not be spared. We will subject them to the full public service disciplinary procedures because this is not just a case of errors, it’s a betrayal of public trust,” Prof. Bitok said.
The Public Service Disciplinary Manual outlines range of penalties depending on the nature and gravity of the misconduct. Minor offenses may attract verbal or written warnings while serious breaches may result in formal reprimands, interdiction, financial penalties, demotion or dismissal from public service.
Prof. Bitok also said the verification exercise will affect teacher deployment, noting that preliminary findings have shown disparities between reported enrollment and staffing. “It will affect the distribution of teachers in our country. It will affect big time because we will get a very clear picture of what is going on in the sector. We want to have the right data on the number of schools and learners,” he said.
When Prof. Bitok appeared before the committee, MPs accused the ministry of downplaying the matter and demanded accountability. Committee Chairperson Julius Melly said: “No, we don’t want you to reshuffle, we want disciplinary action. What was your director-general doing? What was your finance officer doing? People must be held accountable.”
Mr. Melly added: “We cannot allow public funds to be stolen through fictitious schools and non-existent students. Anyone found guilty must face the full force of the law. Our children deserve better and Kenyans must know that every shilling allocated to education goes to real learners.”
The Ministry of Education said 25,800 out of 32,000 schools, 70 percent, have had their data verified and capitation funds released. Most of the verified institutions are secondary schools which were prioritized due to urgent financial needs.
Out of the Sh23 billion disbursed by the National Treasury, Sh16 billion has already been released to schools. Once the verification is done, the ministry will fund secondary school learners at Sh22,244 per student as per policy. A circular from the ministry indicated that this year each learner has received Sh15,385.12 which is 68.55 percent of the expected allocation.
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Mr. Ogamba dismissed claims that the “ghost” learners were children who lacked birth certificates. “We are not using birth certificates. Birth certificates were being used in Nemis. We just developed a tool to verify the number of students in a school, male, female, Grade One to Nine so that we can compare. So we are not using birth certificates,” he said.
The Ministry asked school administrators to cooperate fully with the verification exercise to support accurate resource allocation and future planning.3,485 primary schools did not get capitation because of wrong data and 1,949 secondary schools are at risk of not getting capitation for the same reason. 719 of these submitted wrong account numbers while others submitted blank or incomplete data templates.
Teachers and Ministry Officials Face Interdiction, Transfers, and Dismissal Over Falsified Enrolment Data.
