Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok has opposed the punishment of entire classes over cases of examination cheating.
Speaking on Tuesday, March 3, the PS noted that responsibility has shifted in recent years and called for a fair system that protects blameless students.
"Cheating has moved from learners to teachers but I agree that we should not punish innocent students for a mistake of one or two students. The system should be able to identify the culprits without penalizing the innocent," he said.
Meanwhile, Bitok reassured parents and school administrators that the government remains committed to funding education despite concerns over delayed disbursements.
He noted that engagements with key institutions were ongoing to safeguard capitation funds and enhance budgetary allocation to the education sector.
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"Free primary education policy is intact. We are in conversation with Treasury to ensure that the full amount of capitation is released to our schools. We are also in discussion with Parliament to try and increase the allocation to Ministry of education," he added.
On digital transformation in schools, Bitok outlined measures the Ministry is taking to integrate technology into learning institutions across the country.
He revealed that the rollout of a national digital system and distribution of devices was underway to strengthen digital learning infrastructure.
"The Ministry of Education is doing everything possible to ensure that there is digital learning in our schools. We are rolling out Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), that will connect all our education institutions and aid digital learning. We are also rolling out a program under World bank where we are distributing 25,000 laptops to all primary and Junior schools around the country," he further said.
Bitok also addressed concerns about teacher distribution and staffing levels, noting disparities between urban and rural areas.
"The national ratio of teachers to students is 1:26; in Kakamega it is 1:31. Majority of our teachers want to be stationed in urban areas. They want to teach in schools within posh areas and that is the problem. We must distribute teachers fairly around the country," he explained.
Elsewhere, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has warned school heads against delaying the registration of candidates for the 2026 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA).
In a notice on Tuesday, the council announced that registration officially began on Monday, March 2, and urged heads of institutions to complete the process before the deadline.
KNEC cautioned principals not to wait until the final days to submit candidates’ details, calling for the need for early compliance.
"The registration of candidates for 2026 KJSEA started yesterday, 2nd March, two weeks after the start of registration for KPSEA and KCSE examination.
"As the Head of Institution or Principal, have you registered your candidates? Do not wait for the last-minute rush and register your candidates today," the notice read.
KNEC directed schools to register candidates for both KPSEA and KJSEA through the Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) portal.
According to the notice, heads of institutions can access the portal via https://cba.knec.ac.ke/ and log in using the centre code as both the username and password.
They are required to confirm the data protection checkbox and then click on the 'Sign In' button.
Upon logging in, the head of institution will be required to update their credentials, including name and mobile phone number.
A one-time secret code will then be sent via SMS to the registered phone number for verification.
After entering and verifying the code, users will be redirected to the 'Authorized Applications' dashboard, where they should click on 'Registration & SBAs' to begin registering candidates.
KNEC outlined the timelines for registration, stating that KPSEA will run from February 16 to March 16, KJSEA from March 2 to March 31, and KCSE from February 16 to 31st March.
