•Only a few pupils are listed in National Education Management Information System.
•Government funds schools on the basis of the number of children registered in Nemis
Garissa headteachers are concerned that government funding to their schools might be slashed due to the small number of pupils enrolled in the Nemis.
The online portal was rolled out in January and is aimed at managing and automating education data and other related administrative functions.
Those who spoke to journalists on Thursday said it is government policy to fund schools using the number of children registered in the National Education Management Information System.
“Children who have registered for Nemis are less than 30 per cent. There is a problem at the registration offices and children can’t secure the documents on time,” one of the headteachers who requested anonymity since he is not authorised to speak to the media, said.
At the registration offices, there were many people seeking the documents with sources saying there are no printing papers in the civil registration offices.
A huge backlog of birth and death certificates in Garissa has also been caused by lack of civil registration offices in Dadaab, Lagdera, Balambala and Fafi. Only Ijara has a permanent office.
Kenya National Union of Teachers Garissa secretary Abdirizack Hussein said the government understands the dynamics and challenges of acquiring the birth certificates.
“Teachers are finding difficult to get children enlisted in Nemis because of the difficulties that have been there of getting such documents,” Hussein said.
The Knut official called on the Ministry of Education to partner with the civil registration office and have children registered in the online portal at their schools and speed up the process of issuance.
“We can’t afford schools having their funds slashed just because the actual number of pupils has not been captured. We want the Ministry of Education to partner with civil registration offices to speed up the processing of these documents,” he said.