Director of Field Coordination and Co-curricular Activities Nelson Sifuna speaking at the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) in Nairobi, July 20, 2026. /SCREENGRAB
Public secondary schools have been given until Friday, July 24 to submit learner enrolment data to the Ministry of Education to guide capitation disbursement.
The ministry warned that school heads who fail to comply risk denying learners in their institutions critical funding for the remainder of the year.
Speaking on Monday, Director of Field Coordination and Co-curricular Activities Nelson Sifuna said the ministry had so far received only 2.6 million learner records against an expected 3.2 million.
"We are giving timelines so that they go and ensure that all the children have been enrolled in KEMIS and where there arechallenges,s we come in to assist," he said.
Sifuna spoke during a sensitisation forum on assistive devices at the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) in Nairobi.
The government has this year released Sh67.6 billion in capitation to public schools in two tranches.
In January, the National Treasury disbursed Sh44.2 billion ahead of the reopening of First Term before releasing another Sh23.4 billion on April 22 for Second Term, marking the first time in recent years that schools received funding on schedule.
The funds were allocated to support Free Primary Education, Junior School and Senior School programmes in public institutions across the country.
Sifuna said the learner enrolment data would not only determine capitation allocations but also guide planning and resource distribution for learners in primary and junior schools.
"Any projections that we do will be based on the data that is in KEMIS. We want them to accelerate to ensure all the learners are captured," he said.
The Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) is a centralised digital platform developed by the Ministry of Education to manage learner and institutional data from foundational learning to university level.
The system replaced the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), with the government saying it will improve data accuracy, eliminate duplicate records and curb cases of manipulated enrolment figures and "ghost schools".
Registration on KEMIS is mandatory for both public and private institutions, with government funding and capitation processed through the platform.
The forum also focused on strengthening inclusive education, with KISE director Norman Kiogora revealing that the institute has been given two months to coordinate a nationwide needs assessment to identify learners with disabilities for the efficient distribution of assistive devices.
The exercise comes days after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba flagged off the third phase of the distribution of assistive devices and technologies at KISE in Kasarani, Nairobi.
The 11,139 assistive devices are expected to benefit 321 inclusive programmes and special schools serving learners with visual and physical impairments across all 47 counties.
The government also announced plans to extend the distribution of assistive devices to senior schools and tertiary institutions, including universities, to ensure learners with disabilities continue receiving support throughout their education.
