Ban on Corporal Punishment, Crackdown on Illegal Fees: Inside the Education Bills

From Bomet to Parliament: The Road to Kenya’s New Education Laws

Parliament now takes up the six major education bills after a nationwide listening exercise that ended in Bomet on 2nd October 2026

Kenya’s education reform agenda has reached a significant milestone. The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education has completed public participation on six major education reform bills in all 47 counties.

The last stop was Bomet County on Friday, 2nd October 2026, closing an exercise that began on 14th September 2026.

For teachers, parents, school heads, unions and learners, the exercise was a rare chance to shape the laws that will govern the country’s classrooms for years.

But the bills have not yet become law. They now sit at a decisive point between the views of citizens and the votes of legislators.

A Three-Week Journey Across the Country

Over roughly three weeks, the Committee travelled across the counties to receive oral presentations and written memoranda.

Those who appeared included classroom teachers, parents’ associations, school heads, trade unions, students, religious organisations, private school owners and education experts.

Public participation is a constitutional requirement in Kenya’s law-making process. Citizens are entitled to have a say before Parliament passes legislation that affects them.

By visiting all 47 counties, the Committee has met the expectation that views are gathered from across the country, not only from Nairobi.

What Happens Now: The Road to Law

With hearings concluded, the process moves from the public arena back to Parliament. The next steps are as follows.

1. A committee retreat. The Committee will retreat to consider every submission received from the 47 counties. This is painstaking work. Thousands of views, some in agreement and many in conflict, must be collated and analysed.

2. Review of the bills. Members will review the proposed Education Reform Bills and identify provisions that need to change in light of what stakeholders said.

3. Proposed amendments. Where the submissions justify it, the Committee will propose amendments before the bills advance.

4. The committee report. The Committee will prepare a report with its findings and recommendations for the National Assembly.

5. Debate and voting. Parliament will then proceed with the remaining legislative stages, including debate and voting. Only after these stages can the bills move toward becoming law.

An Important Clarification

It is worth stressing that public participation does not mean the proposed reforms have become law. The views collected help Parliament decide what changes, if any, should be made to the bills. Some proposals may be retained as drafted, others amended, and some possibly dropped.

Teachers, parents, school heads and other stakeholders should therefore keep following the parliamentary process closely. The most consequential decisions are still to come.

The Basic Education Bill Amendments 2026: Key Proposals

Among the measures before Parliament, the Basic Education Bill amendments have drawn particular attention because of their reach across the school system. The proposals include the following.

Structure and Classification of Institutions

The amendments classify and structure basic education institutions as either public or private. They also introduce a comprehensive school model that combines primary and junior secondary school (JSS) under one institution, a response to the practical realities of the Competency-Based Curriculum.

Governance: County Education Boards and Boards of Management

The proposals retain County Education Boards and set out their composition, roles and tenure. The boards are to be chaired by the County Commissioner, with the County Director of Education as secretary, and unions represented.

The changes to the legal framework for Boards of Management (BoMs) are among the most debated. The composition of BoMs would change, with the teacher and student representatives removed.

This is a provision stakeholders are likely to have commented on strongly, since teachers and learners are directly affected by board decisions.

To strengthen accountability, BoM members would be required to declare conflicts of interest on matters before them.

Greater Powers for the Cabinet Secretary

The Cabinet Secretary for Education would be given expanded powers in managing basic education. Supporters may see this as enabling stronger national coordination and enforcement.

Critics may raise questions about concentration of authority and the balance between national and county roles. Parliament will need to weigh these arguments.

Compulsory Education and Access

The bill makes basic education compulsory and strengthens parents’ legal obligations to ensure their children attend school and are disciplined appropriately.

It prevents discrimination or denial of admission to learners and bans admission tests in public schools, which is meant to ensure that a child’s access to a public school does not depend on passing an entrance exam.

Protecting Learners

Several provisions focus on learner welfare:

• Re-entry guarantees: Learners are guaranteed the right to return to school after pregnancy or because of economic circumstances, so that setbacks do not permanently end a child’s education.
• Special needs and disabilities: The bill gives specific legal recognition to learners with special needs and disabilities.
• Discipline and rights: The bill provides a framework for handling learner discipline while protecting learners’ rights, and it bans corporal punishment.
• Dropout monitoring: Heads of institutions would be assigned to follow up on learner absenteeism, creating a mechanism to track and reduce dropouts.

Quality Assurance and Data

The amendments expand quality-assurance powers by introducing a Director of the school inspectorate, with reach down to zonal level.

They also place new emphasis on education data and information through the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), which should support better planning and resource allocation.

Regulating Private Schools and Fees

The proposals set stronger regulation for the registration of private schools. They also criminalise illegal fee collection and make it a matter of personal liability, a measure aimed at the extra charges many parents say burden families despite policies on fees.

Reading the Proposals: Opportunities and Questions

The proposals include measures many Kenyans have long called for: guaranteed re-entry, recognition of learners with disabilities, a ban on corporal punishment, and action against illegal fees.

Making education compulsory and tracking dropouts address persistent gaps in access and retention.

Other proposals are likely to draw sharper debate. The removal of teacher and student representatives from BoMs raises the question of whether those closest to the classroom should have a voice in school governance.

The expanded powers of the Cabinet Secretary raise questions about oversight. Having the County Commissioner chair County Education Boards may also prompt discussion about the role of the national administration in education governance.

Whether these and other concerns shaped the memoranda received will become clear when the Committee’s report is tabled.

Why Your Voice Still Matters

The 47-county exercise is complete, but engagement need not end. Citizens can follow the Committee’s report when it is tabled, track debate through parliamentary proceedings, and engage their Members of Parliament as the bills move through the House.

Teachers’ unions, parents’ associations and school heads can continue to make their positions known to legislators.

The Committee’s report will show how far the submissions from Bomet to Mandera and Turkana to Kisumu influenced the final text. That will be the real test of whether public participation was meaningful.

Conclusion

The 47-county public participation exercise is done. The next chapter belongs to Parliament, which must weigh the submissions, consider amendments, and ultimately decide through debate and voting whether the bills become law.

Until that happens, the reforms remain proposals, and stakeholders have good reason to stay informed and engaged.

The outcome will shape how Kenya’s children are admitted, governed, disciplined and taught for years to come.