NERIMA: Is Kenya’s education system advancing or backsliding?

A student walks on the streets/ HANDOUT

In his debut budget speech on June 17, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi announced an allocation of Sh701.9 billion to the education sector. This represents 28 per cent of Kenya’s Sh4.2 trillion national budget for the 2025-26 financial year, a four per cent increase from the previous year. On paper, this showed commitment, but does it translate into real impact?

Of the total allocation, Sh389.7 billion has been earmarked for the Teachers Service Commission, including Sh22.2 billion for free primary education (FPE), Sh89.5 billion for free day secondary schooling and Sh81.9 billion for university education. More than Sh375 billion will go toward teachers' salaries, with comparatively limited funds left for capacity development and administration.

Despite the overall increase, FPE budget has been slashed by Sh4.3 billion, dealing a heavy blow to crucial support systems like the school feeding programme. This initiative, which has kept children in classrooms since the 1970s, is now running on less.

The number of beneficiaries is expected to rise from 2.6 million to 2.8 million, yet the programme’s budget has been cut by Sh600 million, enough to provide a daily meal for 50,000 children for an entire school year. Importantly, for many pupils from low-income households, that meal is not just an incentive to attend school; it may be the only meal they get.

The situation at the junior secondary level is equally worrying. According to the Elimu Bora Working Group, which is hosted by the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the 2025-26 budget lacks a clear allocation for free junior secondary education. This level continues to face chronic underfunding, inadequate infrastructure, overstretched teachers and mounting out-of-pocket costs for parents. The government’s promise of free basic education is quietly slipping away.

Higher education also faces its battles. The new funding model, rolled out in 2023, was introduced to create a needs-based approach and offer full support to the most vulnerable students. But it has stumbled, bogged down by delays, technical hiccups and limited public awareness.

KHRC, Elimu Bora and the Students’ Caucus also challenge it in court. Meanwhile, the Higher Education Loans Board, despite realising a boost of 14 per cent in this year’s budget, remains financially strained, unable to meet the increasing demand for student financing.

Kenya’s education journey has seen major milestones, however. The country has made commendable progress from the harambee schools of the post-independence era to President Mwai Kibaki’s FPE policy.

But, persistent gaps exacerbated by mismanagement, inconsistent rollout of reforms and underinvestment continue to limit the sector’s full potential. This is the moment for the current administration to treat education as a long-term investment and not an expenditure.

The Constitution of Kenya, under Article 43(1)(f), guarantees every person the right to education. Article 21 further obligates the state to fulfill this right progressively. On the international front, Kenya is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which obligates governments to make higher education progressively free and accessible to all. General Comment No. 13 adds that states must also commit to gradually introducing free secondary and higher education, not just primary.

This week, global leaders are convening in Seville, Spain, for the once-in-a-decade financing for development conference. This is a vital platform to secure long-term investments in public services. As Kenya sits at the table, one message that must be clear to them is that education is not a luxury but a right, an investment and the backbone of the country’s future. Today's decisions will shape tomorrow's classrooms, careers, and communities.

The writer is a manager for inclusion and political justice at the Kenya Human Rights Commission