County governments are facing fresh scrutiny over their handling of education, with an audit exposing widespread neglect of early childhood learning facilities and questionable management of millions of shillings set aside to support students from poor families.
A review by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu found that children in several counties are attending ECDE centres with overcrowded classrooms, inadequate sanitation, insufficient furniture and too few teachers, raising concerns about the quality of education offered at the foundational level.
At the same time, bursary and scholarship programmes intended to prevent needy students from dropping out of school have been affected by poor vetting, questionable allocations, duplicate payments and gaps in financial accountability.
The findings point to weaknesses in county education management, particularly in the provision of pre-primary education, which falls under the responsibility of county administrations.
In Nakuru, the audit found that classroom congestion was widespread, with only 404 out of 1,062 ECDE centres observing the recommended maximum of 25 pupils per classroom.
The situation has restricted learning space and reduced the attention teachers can give individual children.
“This resulted in congestion, limited space for learning activities and minimal one-on-one interaction between the teacher and learners, thereby limiting effective curriculum delivery,” the report states.
The condition of some classrooms was also found to be poor, with broken floors, roofs that allowed rainwater in and cracked walls creating unsafe learning environments.
Sanitation facilities were another major concern. The audit established that 573 schools, accounting for 54 per cent, did not have separate toilets for boys, while 584 schools, representing 55 per cent, lacked designated facilities for girls.
Inspections conducted in 18 sampled schools found that none had latrines designed to accommodate learners with disabilities. Five had toilet openings wider than the recommended 20cm by 15cm, exposing children to the danger of falling into the pits.
The available facilities were also insufficient for the number of learners. Schools with designated toilets had one facility for every 41 boys and one for every 42 girls, compared with the required ratios of one toilet for every 30 boys and one for every 10 girls.
“The insufficient number of latrines resulted in long queues during toilet breaks, loss of lesson time, instances of learners soiling themselves and compromised hygiene that exposed learners to health risks,” the report states.
The shortage of classroom furniture affected 424 schools, equivalent to 40 per cent of the total number assessed.
Staffing levels were equally worrying, with 57 per cent of schools failing to achieve the recommended standard of one teacher for every 25 learners.
Nakuru had recruited 847 ECDE teachers, but school Boards of Management (BoM) had employed an additional 1,383, accounting for 62 per cent of the total workforce.
The reliance on teachers hired by individual schools has forced some institutions to charge parents fees to meet their salaries, transferring the cost of providing pre-primary education to households.
“The employment of unregistered BoM teachers was attributed to limited oversight by the county government and school boards of management in ensuring only registered teachers are employed,” the report states.
Children were also found to be sharing inadequate learning resources, with the supply of activity books ranging from one book for every 81 pupils to one for every 166 learners, instead of the expected one book per child.
“The county government has not ensured sufficient allocation of learning materials to learners in pre-primary schools, thereby compromising the quality of pre-primary education,” the report states.
Murang’a was also flagged for shortcomings in the provision of early childhood education, despite having built 161 classrooms and renovated another 327 ECDE centres during the audit period.
The review found that 518 centres, representing 77 per cent, operated within primary schools and shared sanitation facilities with older pupils, in breach of national guidelines on pre-primary education.
An assessment of 10 centres revealed that five did not have toilets specifically designated for young learners.
Furniture provision remained inadequate despite the distribution of 14,401 chairs and 629 tables by the county government. All the sampled centres lacked sufficient tables, while seven did not have enough chairs suited to the age of the children.
Only 204 schools, representing 38 per cent, had attained the recommended teacher-to-learner ratio. The remaining 329, or 62 per cent, did not meet the requirement.
The county had a workforce of 1,052 ECDE teachers, although 93 per cent were employed on contract and the other seven per cent were working as interns.
The arrangement went against the 2021 ECDE Teachers Scheme of Service, which provides for permanent and pensionable employment.
The audit further questioned the county's remuneration structure after establishing that teachers received the same pay regardless of their academic qualifications.
Professional training was also limited. During the 2024–25 financial year, the county organised only a one-day workshop to prepare teachers for the Competency-Based Education curriculum.
Teachers who spoke to auditors said the session was insufficient to equip them with the knowledge required to deliver the curriculum.
The report says the shortage of teachers resulted in “limited individualised attention to learners, increased teacher workload and constrained classroom management”.
Bursary programmes face accountability questions
While the challenges in ECDE centres expose gaps in the provision of basic education services, the audit also raises concerns about the handling of financial assistance intended to help vulnerable learners remain in school.
In Narok, auditors examined 202 bursary applications and found that 201, representing 99.5 per cent, were incomplete and had not been approved by the county executive committee.
Only 59 applications, equivalent to 29 per cent, contained all the necessary supporting documents, while 143 lacked the required evidence.
Among the incomplete records, 89 did not include school attendance reports that would have helped establish whether the listed beneficiaries were enrolled in the institutions.
“Needy and deserving students were not adequately identified and risked missing out on bursaries and scholarships, negatively impacting on the objectives of the Programme,” the report states.
The audit also questioned the adequacy of the financial assistance, finding that 159,922 learners received an average of Sh8,400 each over the four years examined.
The payments covered only 21 per cent of approved fees for students in extra-county and county schools, leaving beneficiaries exposed to the possibility of failing to clear their outstanding balances.
“Needy students with large fee arrears faced the risk of school discontinuation, while students with comparatively lower financial needs benefitted,” the report states.
Further examination uncovered multiple allocations to the same beneficiaries, with 3,123 learners receiving duplicate bursaries worth Sh66.2 million within and across different wards.
In another irregularity, 104 beneficiaries were paid amounts that exceeded their approved school fees by a combined Sh241,611.
The county also set aside Sh65.1 million during the 2023–24 financial year for the governor's office and special-interest individuals without providing records to demonstrate that the beneficiaries had been selected through a transparent and fair process.
Questions were also raised over the tracking of money released to learning institutions.
According to the report, Sh329.7 million, representing 91.7 per cent of the Sh359.7 million disbursed in bursaries during the financial year, had not been acknowledged by the respective learning institutions.
Kirinyaga County was similarly found to have weaknesses in the processing and assessment of bursary applications.
Out of 197 applications reviewed, 95, accounting for 48 per cent, did not have complete supporting documents, while 91, representing 46 per cent, had been filled out incorrectly.
The audit further established that applicants received average payments ranging from Sh1,700 to Sh3,500 without the amounts being determined by their level of financial vulnerability.
The findings raise questions about the fairness and effectiveness of county bursary schemes, particularly whether the money allocated is reaching learners facing the greatest financial difficulties.