Education PS grilled over replacement of NEMIS in school capitation

The National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also demanded answers over discrepancies in learner enrollment data flagged by the Auditor General.

At the centre of the controversy is the Auditor General’s report for the year ended June 30, 2024, which found that there was no documentary evidence confirming that student enrollment data on NEMIS had been verified by sub-county education officers before capitation funds were disbursed.

The committee sought to establish the legal basis the State Department for Basic Education was using to disburse funds after moving away from NEMIS.

Ololtua admitted that the ministry had discarded NEMIS for the latest disbursement and was instead relying on data obtained through a field verification exercise.

“The current disbursement we have done, we actually didn’t use KEMIS because KEMIS is still being finalised. So, we used the verified data from the field. The previous one used because capitation disbursement is done every year,” Ololtua stated.

PAC Chairperson Tindi Mwale questioned whether the ministry had obtained approval to abandon NEMIS before adopting the field-verified data.

“The moving from NEMIS and you’re somewhere in the middle, not using NEMIS or KEMIS. Do you have the approval communication from the ministry or government to use that system?” Mwale stated.

Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda pressed the PS to provide documentary evidence to support the ministry’s position.

“PS, these are just stories. We need you to actually answer the query. No documentary evidence was provided for the audit to confirm student enrollment data had been verified,” Lesuuda stated.

The scrutiny comes amid concerns over the accuracy of learner enrollment figures used to determine government funding for schools.

In the third term of 2025, the Ministry of Education required public schools to provide updated data on enrolled learners before capitation funds could be released.

In May 2026, the ministry reported that more than 800,000 non-existent learners had been identified during the verification exercise, with the ministry recommending legal action against suspected culprits.

Despite the discrepancies, the ministry has continued with the transition from NEMIS to the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), which is yet to be fully rolled out.

Ololtua defended KEMIS, saying the new platform would provide a more comprehensive system for managing education data.

“KEMIS will offer a wider scope than NEMIS. It offers a unified data architecture. It covers basic education, TVET, tertiary and even TSC. There’s also improved interoperability,” Ololtua stated.

However, Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe criticised the ministry over what he termed inaccurate learner data.

“I am appalled by the level of inaccuracy in this ministry. Things seem to be guesswork. These are human beings, these are children. You should have surgical precision of data,” Kagombe stated.

The committee has given the ministry two weeks to return with approval letters authorising the abandonment of NEMIS, sub-county verification reports and the legal framework supporting the current system being used to disburse capitation funds.