Schools are struggling in silence, says PS Bitok
Education
By
Mike Kihaki
| Jul 17, 2025
Kenya’s secondary schools are facing a silent but deepening crisis, as underfunding, low enrolment, and skewed resource distribution threaten the future of thousands of learners, particularly in small, rural institutions.
The situation is so dire that over 5,000 public secondary schools received no students in the last placement exercise, despite the expected transition of more than 1.2 million learners from primary to secondary school.
According to Basic Education Principal Secretary Dr. Julius Bitok, the sustainability of some schools is in question.
“In Elgeyo Marakwet, after meeting with principals, it became very clear that we need to have a national conversation about the viability of some schools. More than 3,000 schools have fewer than 150 students. These institutions are straining, and so are the teachers,” he said.
This challenge, he noted, must be addressed before the country can successfully implement the final phase of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which includes a transition to Senior Secondary.
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“We have a lot to do so that we can create a conducive learning environment for our learners in public schools. When you study the placement of students, we realised that there are gaps in secondary schools,” said Bitok.
A joint study by Usawa Agenda and Zizi Afrique Foundation has further revealed how thinly stretched the education system has become.
In Junior Secondary, teacher deployment is inconsistent and often inadequate. Some schools have only one teacher, others up to twelve. The median is just three.
“This is not just a numbers issue. You can’t teach science without labs, and you can’t deliver CBC without trained teachers. What we’re seeing is a systemic breakdown,” said Dr. John Mugo, CEO of Zizi Afrique Foundation.
Only 21 percent of teachers are trained in STEM subjects, while over one-third of schools lack even a single STEM teacher. Half the learners don’t have access to basic laboratory facilities.
KESSHA Chairman Willy Kuria said the brunt of the crisis is being felt in small sub-county schools, many of which are underfunded and often overlooked.
“We are calling on the government to review the funding model urgently. Small schools are struggling to meet even the most basic operational costs. Some have no science teachers, no labs, and no digital equipment. How are they expected to compete or survive?” Kuria posed.