ODM leader Raila Odinga renewed calls to devolve school management to counties. He proposed that governors should oversee primary and secondary schools to bring services closer and cut bureaucracy.
Teachers rejected the plan. Officials of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) said counties had already failed in managing Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE), which falls under their mandate together with vocational training centres.
Speaking in Wote Town, Makueni County, Knut Secretary-General Collins Oyuu and National Treasurer James Ndiku criticised the counties’ record on ECDE. They pointed to weak quality assurance and limited capacity. Mr Oyuu argued that counties had failed even at the most basic level of education. “If they cannot handle ECDE, how will they run other levels?” he asked.
Mr Ndiku described the proposal as poorly timed. He observed that schools are still grappling with the costly competency-based curriculum and warned that county control would add more strain.
The union leaders praised President William Ruto’s administration for employing thousands of teachers over the past three years. They also welcomed the deal between Knut and the government, which they said had stabilised the sector. In the same breath, they dismissed Mr Odinga’s push and urged him to leave education to professionals.
Mr Odinga unveiled his proposal during the 2025 Devolution Conference in Homa Bay. He insisted that governors should inspect schools instead of Cabinet Secretaries travelling across the country.
His remarks came as schools face delays in government capitation funds. He further called for the scrapping of NG-CDF and NGAAF, saying counties should receive the money to fund education.
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