Six Education Bills: What’s Actually In Them, and How to Have Your Say.
Public participation on six Bills that would rewrite the legal foundation of Kenya’s education system opened on 14 September 2026, with hearings running in 31 counties through 25 September. If you have views on how basic education, teacher training, national assessments, curriculum development, or university and TVET funding should work, this is the two-week window that matters.
Here is what each Bill actually proposes, where the hearings are happening, and how to submit written views if you can’t attend in person.
The six Bills, correctly named
All six were gazetted on 24 July 2026 and had their First Reading in the National Assembly on 11 August 2026. They carry official Bill numbers:
| Bill | No. | What it replaces or creates |
|---|---|---|
| Tertiary Education, Placement and Funding Bill, 2026 | 49/2026 | Repeals the HELB Act; creates the Tertiary Education Funding Authority (TEFA); re-establishes KUCCPS |
| Basic Education Bill, 2026 | 50/2026 | Repeals and replaces the Basic Education Act, Cap. 211 |
| Kenya National Educational Assessments Council Bill, 2026 | 51/2026 | Replaces the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) with KNEAC |
| Pre-Service Education and In-Service Training Bill, 2026 | 52/2026 | Creates the Kenya Teachers Training College and a Kenya School of Education |
| Kenya National Qualifications Framework (Amendment) Bill, 2026 | 53/2026 | Reconstitutes the KICD Council; creates a national qualifications database |
| Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 | 54/2026 | Amends the Curriculum Development Act, Cap. 271A; replaces KICD’s Director with a CEO |
Note the correction to keep in mind while reading coverage of these Bills: some outlets refer to the second item as the “Basic Education (Amendment) Bill, 2026.” Parliament’s own hearing notices and the Bill number confirm it as the Basic Education Bill, 2026 — a full repeal and replacement of Cap. 211, not an amendment to it.
Basic Education Bill, 2026: the core changes
This is the largest of the six and the one most likely to affect parents, teachers and school heads directly.
What it does structurally. The Bill gives effect to Article 53(1)(b) of the Constitution, the right to free and compulsory basic education, and formally embeds the CBC structure — pre-primary, primary, junior school (Grades 7–9) and senior school (Grades 10–12) — in place of the old 8-4-4 references in Cap. 211. It spells out which basic-education functions sit with national government and which with counties, and sets out how quality assurance is coordinated.
New institutions it creates. The Bill establishes the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) as the national data register, alongside the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) and the National Council for Education in Marginalised Communities (NACEMA). It also creates a dedicated Fund for scholarships and bursaries with reserved allocations for learners with special needs, and grant-making institutions gain formal reporting obligations under the law.
Admissions and fees. Public schools cannot administer entrance exams to screen admissions, and cannot turn a child away for lacking a birth certificate.
Discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, ethnicity, socio-economic status or disability is outlawed. Public schools cannot charge tuition fees to Kenyan citizens, and any other charge requires prior approval from the Cabinet Secretary.
A public school shall not charge or cause any parent or guardian to pay tuition fees for or on behalf of any learner in the school, though the provision does allow fees for non-Kenyan citizens.
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Penalties — the full range, not just the largest one. Coverage of this Bill has focused heavily on its two headline penalties, but the Bill contains a graduated scale:
| Offence | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Preventing a child from attending school (employment, income-generating activity, religion, parental conflict, cultural practice) | Up to Sh5 million, up to 5 years’ imprisonment, or both |
| School official charging illegal tuition or unauthorised levies | Up to Sh1 million, up to 3 years’ imprisonment, or both |
| Parent failing to present a child for admission at the start of the academic year | Up to Sh100,000, up to 2 years, or both |
| Failure to ensure regular attendance once a child is enrolled | Up to Sh100,000, up to 1 year, or both |
| Ignoring a formal attendance notice from a County Education Board without valid cause | Up to Sh200,000, up to 2 years |
These remain proposed provisions. The Bill has not been enacted, and none of these penalties currently apply.
Redress for parents. A parent whose child is wrongly denied admission, or made to pay an illegal levy, can challenge the school before a County Education Board, which must rule within 14 days. Further recourse sits with the Education Appeals Tribunal.
Oversight. The Bill creates a statutory Director of Schools Inspections with a mandate to audit curriculum delivery, financial management and institutional governance. Falsifying data submitted to KEMIS is a statutory offence.
Tertiary Education, Placement and Funding Bill, 2026: HELB is being replaced, not just tweaked
This is the Bill with the largest financial footprint, and it deserves more attention than a passing mention. It repeals the Higher Education Loans Board Act outright and folds HELB, the Universities Fund and the TVET Funding Board into one new institution: the Tertiary Education Funding Authority (TEFA).
TEFA would draw on a dedicated Loans and Scholarships Fund and could raise money through Treasury bills, bonds, concessional loans, government grants, savings schemes, unit trusts and commercial partnerships — a considerably wider financing toolkit than HELB currently has. Private institutions would gain the ability to apply for and receive loan and scholarship funding directly, rather than only through their enrolled students.
The Bill also re-establishes KUCCPS as the central placement body, with a stated priority order: public institutions first, private institutions only where no public vacancy exists, and study abroad only where no comparable course exists locally.
Existing HELB loans are not wiped out. The Bill provides for the transfer of rights, obligations, assets and liabilities from HELB, the Universities Fund and the TVET Funding Board to the new bodies, and HELB continues processing applications and repayments as normal while the Bill is under consideration.
KNEAC Bill, 2026: KNEC’s replacement, with new offences attached
The Kenya National Educational Assessments Council Bill would repeal the legal basis for KNEC, established under Cap. 214A, and replace it with the Kenya National Educational Assessments Council. KNEAC would inherit KNEC’s certification role, including confirming the authenticity of certificates and diplomas for candidates who sat its assessments.
Two provisions are worth flagging for institutions and administrators specifically: the Bill creates a penalty for running an academic programme that has not been approved, and it creates new offences relating to examination malpractice. It also requires the Commission for University Education to consult relevant statutory bodies before approving new university programmes.
A related and contested detail: an earlier draft proposed a separate National Examination Appeals Tribunal, but that proposal has reportedly been dropped in favour of routing exam-related disputes through the existing Education Appeals Tribunal.
Pre-Service Education and In-Service Training Bill, 2026: a new training pipeline for teachers
This Bill would establish the Kenya Teachers Training College (KTTC) as the body responsible for pre-service teacher education, and create a Kenya School of Education (KSE) to support it. Anyone seeking registration as a teacher would be required to undertake pre-service education in line with the Teachers Service Commission Act, and that training would follow programmes, curricula and support materials developed by KICD — tightening the link between what trainee teachers study and what CBE actually requires in classrooms.
In-service training under the Bill extends beyond classroom teachers to education managers and school leaders, with the KSE positioned as a hub for professional development, research, consultancy and advisory support to the Cabinet Secretary. Existing teacher training colleges, including those that have since become university campuses or branches, would need to register under the new framework and consult existing statutory bodies before mounting new programmes.
KNQF (Amendment) and KICD (Amendment) Bills, 2026: smaller but not minor
The Kenya National Qualifications Framework (Amendment) Bill amends the framework governing curriculum development and academic qualifications. It replaces KICD’s current Council with a reconstituted membership and creates a national qualifications database intended to track credentials centrally.
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (Amendment) Bill amends the Curriculum Development Act, Cap. 271A, largely to modernise how KICD operates: it replaces the office of Director with a Chief Executive Officer, restructures Council membership, and obliges the Cabinet Secretary to consult the Council before making regulations under the Act. It also proposes replacing “tertiary education and training” with “teacher education and training” in specified KICD functions — a narrower mandate shift worth noting for institutions currently operating under the broader wording.
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Where the hearings are happening
The Departmental Committee on Education, chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly, is running the hearings county by county rather than in a single national forum, ending with a final session at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi.
| Date | Counties |
|---|---|
| 14 September | Tana River, Uasin Gishu, Kilifi, Elgeyo-Marakwet |
| 15 September | Mombasa, Trans Nzoia, Kwale, Kakamega |
| — | Kisumu, Makueni, Taita Taveta, Homa Bay |
| — | Machakos, Kisii, Embu, Kericho |
| — | Meru, Narok, Kirinyaga, Kajiado |
| 21 September | Wajir, Turkana |
| — | Kiambu, Nakuru, Murang’a, Baringo |
| — | Nyeri, Nyandarua, Isiolo, Laikipia |
| — | Nairobi (final session) |
If your county isn’t listed here or you want the exact time and venue for your session, check Parliament’s own notices — sessions have been running in two blocks per day, roughly 9.00 am to 12.30 pm and 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm, at venues such as technical colleges and polytechnics.
How to submit your views if you can’t attend
Written memoranda go to the Clerk of the National Assembly, hand-delivered to Parliament Buildings or emailed, by 5.00 pm on 24 September 2026 — a day before the hearings themselves conclude. Copies of all six Bills are available on Parliament’s website for anyone preparing a submission.
Where this fits in the broader reform push
These six Bills did not appear out of nowhere. Cabinet adopted the underlying package of proposals on 11 February 2026, describing it as a comprehensive overhaul spanning governance, curriculum, assessment, financing, teacher training and qualifications, aligned with the Constitution and the CBE framework. The KNEC-to-KNEAC rebrand and the HELB/KUCCPS/Universities Fund consolidation were both flagged at Cabinet level well before the Bills reached First Reading.
The Committee had already begun technical scrutiny with the Ministry of Education before opening public hearings: on 5 August 2026, the Committee met Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba to review the Tertiary Education, Basic Education, KNEAC and KICD Bills in detail.
What happens after 25 September
Public participation is one stage in a longer process. None of the six Bills is law. Each must still clear the remaining stages in the National Assembly — Committee of the Whole House, Third Reading — and receive presidential assent before any of the provisions described above, including the Basic Education Bill’s fines and the HELB repeal, take effect. The Committee will review submissions gathered during the county sessions and table its report to guide the House’s further consideration.
Until that happens, HELB continues to process loans and repayments as usual, KNEC continues to run assessments, and none of the proposed penalties in the Basic Education Bill can be enforced.
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Frequently asked questions
Is the Basic Education Bill the same as an amendment to the current law?
No. Despite being referred to as an “amendment bill” in some reporting, it is a full repeal and replacement of the Basic Education Act, Cap. 211.
Will HELB stop operating immediately?
No. HELB continues processing applications and repayments while the Bill is before Parliament. If passed, existing loans transfer to the new Tertiary Education Funding Authority rather than being cancelled.
Are the Sh5 million and Sh1 million fines already in force?
No. These are proposed penalties in a Bill that has not been enacted. They cannot currently be applied to anyone.
Can I still submit my views if I miss the hearing in my county?
Yes. Written memoranda can be emailed or hand-delivered to the Clerk of the National Assembly by 5.00 pm on 24 September 2026, regardless of whether you attended a county session.
Does KUCCPS disappear under these reforms?
No — the opposite. The Tertiary Education, Placement and Funding Bill re-establishes KUCCPS as the central placement body, while restructuring how the funding side (currently HELB) works.
What replaces KNEC?
The Kenya National Educational Assessments Council (KNEAC), which would take over KNEC’s certification and assessment functions under the KNEAC Bill, 2026.
Six Education Bills: What’s Actually In Them, and How to Have Your Say.
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