Former Chief Justice David Maraga has accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of presiding over a deep crisis in the education sector, warning that the country risks failing an entire generation unless urgent changes are made.
He said the current approach to education, especially the rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum, has lost direction and no longer serves learners, parents or teachers.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, January 14, the UGM Party leader said true access to education must go beyond simply admitting children into schools. He stressed that the system should allow learners to remain in school, move forward smoothly, and complete their studies with dignity.
Maraga said the present education structure is placing unbearable pressure on families and educators while leaving learners discouraged instead of empowered. He warned that the system is pushing many children into distress rather than giving them the tools to succeed.
“Access must mean more than enrolment. It must mean retention, progression, and completion with dignity,” Maraga said, adding that no child should ever feel that self-harm is their only escape from academic failure.
He criticised the government for heavily promoting programmes such as Digital Literacy and the Silicon Savannah agenda while ignoring serious gaps in public schools. Maraga said nearly half of public junior secondary schools do not have science laboratories, while many still lack electricity, making innovation claims unrealistic.
According to Maraga, technology can only support learning if basic conditions are met. He said digital tools cannot replace teachers, classrooms or learning materials, and warned that rolling out technology without proper facilities, trained teachers and fairness measures risks widening inequality.
“We must end this shambolic CBC,” he said, calling for an education reset anchored on the constitutional right to education and guided by common sense.
Maraga also questioned reforms driven by leaders whose children attend private schools, saying such decisions ignore the daily struggles faced by learners in public institutions and show a clear disconnect from reality.
The former Chief Justice further faulted an education culture that places excessive focus on grades rather than real learning. He said the system encourages memorisation at the expense of thinking, creativity and life skills. Maraga cited unusual grading trends, including a high number of Ds compared to Cs, as proof of deeper system failure rather than learner inability.
In the wider statement, Maraga described an education sector weighed down by funding shortages, corruption and weak planning. He said schools across the country are dealing with overcrowded classrooms, aging facilities and a teacher deficit exceeding 100,000.
He disclosed that government support per primary school learner has dropped sharply, falling from about Ksh22,244 to Ksh12,870 each year, representing a cut of nearly 45 per cent. At the same time, he noted that the national government is spending more than Ksh1.9 trillion every year on debt servicing, taking up over 75 per cent of total revenue.
Maraga said the education crisis is not caused by lack of money but by wrong choices. He accused the government of prioritising debt growth, corruption and overpriced contracts instead of investing in classrooms, teachers and learners.
