MP Caroli Omondi Calls for Biometric Student Registration to Help End Kenyan Phantom Students
Recent reports have shown that the government might drop the free primary and secondary education program that has provided millions of poor Kenyan children
Falsification of student enrollment numbers has raised national indignation since government subsidies for state schools are a function of how many learners are enrolled. Photo /courtesy
By Juliet Jerotich
Suba South MP Caroli Omondi has called on the government to introduce biometric systems in schools to assist in ending the long-agitated issue of ghost students. In the legislator’s argument, utilizing technology would provide a good solution to effectively verify student registration and ensure appropriate utilization of education funds.
Speaking to the press on Monday, July 28, 2025, Omondi blamed the government for failing to address the age-long problem of fake student records, which has again and again been pointed out in audit reports. He emphasized that biometric registration would be an effective and practical device for cleansing the education system.
This ghost learners and ghost schools issue is just due to lack of seriousness on the part of the government. We already have Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits that are used by the IEBC during elections. Why not apply the same technology to pupils? Using biometric data, we would exactly know who is on roll, without having the ability to inflate numbers of pupils,” Omondi continued.
The MP regretted that, despite the fact that the Auditor General has continuously flagged the fraudulent schools and impostor learners, nothing significant has been done against individuals running such scams.
“This is the second time we are raising this issue. And yet we have not had any significant prosecutions. It proves that there is no serious commitment to dealing with this problem,” Omondi asserted.
He also warned that inefficiencies and corruption in the management of school enrollment figures are now being used as an excuse to deny children free education.
“Let’s not give the incompetence of those who are supposed to do it as the reason why we claim that we are not able to provide free primary education. Either we make concrete actions to rectify it, or we continue to mislead Kenyans that financing free education is impossible,” Omondi stated.
Falsification of student enrollment numbers has raised national indignation since government subsidies for state schools are a function of how many learners are enrolled. Falsified data lead to misallocation of resources as well as potential loss of public funds meant for actual learners.
In addition, recent reports have shown that the government might drop the free primary and secondary education program that has provided millions of poor Kenyan children with access to school since its initiation in 2002.
Omondi insists that the adoption of biometric identification would not only curb fake enrollments but also secure education funds, enabling the free education to keep reaching the children who need it most.
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