Kenya’s education system on sound footing – Ruto

President William Ruto interacts with students at the Thika High School during the school's 70th anniversary, May 15, 2026. /PCS

President William Ruto has said Kenya’s education system is on a strong growth trajectory following targeted interventions that have addressed the four main challenges that had plagued the sector for decades.

Speaking on Friday during the 70th anniversary of Thika High School, Ruto noted that schools now have adequate classrooms, more teachers have been hired, and both the funding model and curriculum have been streamlined.

“We have tackled each one of them systematically. We have aligned CBE, and today there’s clarity on how our students are going to transition. Focus is no longer about passing one particular examination. We have now made examinations not a life and death issue,” he said.

He added that the new curriculum has given every learner an opportunity to thrive in their own area of specialisation based on their skills and talents, effectively removing the perception that the education system produces winners and failures.

“In the past, we treated these students the same, and we disadvantaged some students who are gifted differently, and that is why our education system, for a very long time, produced too many failures because we had a system of one-size-fits-all.”

The Head of State said that currently about 60 per cent of learners are pursuing the STEM pathway, while the rest are in either arts or sports.

In the past three years, Ruto said the government has employed 100,000 teachers, with 20,000 more expected this year, while 23,000 classrooms have been constructed to absorb increased enrolment driven by the 100 per cent transition policy.

“If you have a classroom with 80 students, learning becomes very difficult. If you have a classroom with no teacher, you cannot have proper learning,” he said.

He added that capitation is now student-centred to ensure support for each learner is commensurate with individual needs so that no one is locked out of the opportunity to study.

“That is why we have made it deliberate that before every term opens, money for the students arrives in schools before the students.”

The President said this targeted intervention has seen funding to the education sector rise from Sh500 billion to Sh702 billion in the last three years, with a proposed further increase to Sh767 billion in the 2026–27 financial year.

“We have not done this as an afterthought; we have not done this randomly. We are doing it because if Kenya is to catch up with our peers who left us behind and become First World countries, we must invest in education,” he said.

Ruto linked quality education to Kenya’s economic advancement, which he has dubbed the “Singapore dream”, anchored on human capital as the foundation of economic transformation.

He argues that Kenya can replicate Singapore’s rapid ascent from scarcity to abundance by heavily investing in a skilled, globally competitive workforce.

“If Kenya is to move to a First World country, we need to invest in world-class human capital to drive our transformation. No nation can develop beyond its capacity to think or create knowledge.”

The President lauded the Thika High School community for its transformative growth, noting that its increase in enrolment from 600 to 1,000 in 10 years is a testament to growing public confidence in the institution.