No job losses as Education Ministry announces major parastatal restructuring
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said the restructuring will not lead to any job losses, assuring staff that essential services and oversight will continue uninterrupted.
The government has assured that no staff will lose their jobs as the Ministry begins a major restructuring of its education State corporations aimed at improving efficiency and cutting duplication of roles.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said the restructuring will not lead to any job losses, assuring staff that essential services and oversight will continue uninterrupted.
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“Even as we merge or dissolve, there will be no loss of jobs or functions. That is why some are being moved back to the Ministry so that we do not lose the functions. We want to avoid duplicating duties and inefficiency. It’s either move to the ministry or merge with a different institution for efficiency,” Ogamba said.
Among the education sector agencies earmarked for merger are the University Fund and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), while others, such as the Commission for University Education (CUE), the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) and the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA), are also under review.
Those set for dissolution, with their functions reverting to the Ministry of Education, include the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA), the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO and the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK).
Additionally, the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF) and the School Equipment Production Unit (SEPU) are among the parastatals set to be scrapped.
Ogamba said the reforms stem from a Cabinet concern over overlapping mandates across multiple State corporations within the ministry.
“The Cabinet said that we have a problem with so many corporations in the Ministry of Education doing the same mandate, which is why we are reforming., We have a technical team that is looking at the implications of these mergers, which ones can work, which ones cannot, the budgets and the possibility of weaning some of them from the exchequer,” he said.
He added that crucial legislative drafts have already been prepared to facilitate the restructuring.
“The bills have been drafted in consultation with the Attorney General, the National Treasury and other stakeholders involved,” said Mr Ogamba.
The Cabinet had, on January 21, 2025, issued a directive on reforms within State corporations, declaring that the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation’s mandate is outdated and should be dissolved. The Ministry of Education has since incorporated related provisions in the draft Basic Education Scholarships and Bursaries Bill, contained within the draft Basic Education Bill 2025, which seeks to replace the current Basic Education Act (Cap 211).
If enacted, the proposed law will transfer the responsibility for administering and coordinating all scholarships and bursaries in basic education to the Cabinet Secretary for Education.
However, Taita Taveta Senator Johnes Mwaruma cautioned the government against rushing the process, recalling the confusion that followed the rollout of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) transition to junior secondary school.
“We do not want a scenario like it happened before, one time the state said junior school would be domiciled in senior school, then later in primary school, and now there are talks on autonomy and comprehensive schools. Let us avoid confusion. Let us ensure the law is changed and that there is adequate public participation before the implementation of the mergers and dissolution,” Mwaruma said.
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