Kenya’s education sector in 2026 is living two contradictory lives at once — one of historic ambition, the other of grinding crisis. From the corridors of parliament to the dusty classrooms of rural counties, the story of Kenyan education this year is nothing short of dramatic.

The CBC Revolution Hits Grade 10 — And the Cracks Are Showing

This is the year the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system enters its final, most consequential stretch, with the first cohort of CBE learners now transitioned to Grade 10, marking their entry into senior school. Daily Nation Over a million students — pioneers of a system promised to transform Kenyan learning — are now in senior school. But the red carpet rolled out for them has more holes than fabric.

The most glaring problem is infrastructure. While the government built 23,000 classrooms in the 2024/25 financial year, the laboratory gap remains severe. The government has pledged to build 1,600 laboratories this year, but for students, the wait for practical learning continues. Daily Nation

Then there’s the money problem. Senior schools expected Sh22,000 per student from the government, but only Sh14,000 hits the accounts. In the first term alone, only Sh6,500 was sent, yet school heads had expected Sh11,000. Daily Nation One frustrated principal put it bluntly: “The annual Sh53,000 fee for boarding school per student is not enough. The school fee structure was developed and implemented in 2014 — but this is 2026. Inflation is a reality for school leadership.” Daily Nation

The Teacher Crisis Nobody Wants to Talk About

Behind every classroom crisis is a staffing catastrophe. No school in Kenya is fully staffed with teachers for subjects like aviation or marine technology. Daily Nation CBE promised exciting new pathways — aviation, marine technology, applied sciences — but the teachers simply don’t exist in numbers. Principals are being forced to hire professionals using Board of Management funds Daily Nation, essentially begging, borrowing, and improvising their way through a curriculum the government designed but didn’t fully resource.

And for junior school intern teachers, the situation has turned into a full-blown scandal. A section of junior school intern teachers went on protest after the Teachers Service Commission skipped paying them salaries for a third consecutive month. Teachers Arena Three months. No pay. These are the teachers holding the CBC foundation together.

The TSC and the Ministry of Education also put on hold plans to recruit a total of 16,000 junior school teachers on internship terms this year Teachers Arena — a hiring freeze at the exact moment the system desperately needs more hands.

Exam Papers on the Street — A Scandal in Broad Daylight

Perhaps the most explosive allegation this year comes from teachers’ unions. Kuppet chairman Omboko Milemba has raised the alarm over a growing street market for examinations, saying the lack of an organised assessment framework in junior schools has made teachers resort to buying papers from vendors. Daily Nation Exam papers. Bought from vendors. On the streets. This is the integrity crisis quietly eating at the soul of CBE.

University Debt: Ksh98 Billion and Counting

The rot doesn’t stop at the school gate. Members of the National Assembly Committee on Education have raised alarm over rising pending bills in public universities, which hit Ksh98.06 billion as of December 31, 2025 — with no provision for settling the debt in upcoming financial ceilings. Education News Kenya’s universities are essentially running on fumes and faith.

TVET: The Quiet Revolution

Amid the chaos, one sector is quietly rewriting the script. When the current government came into office, there were 350,000 students in TVET institutions — now the figure stands at 850,000, with a target of two million by end of 2026. Daily Nation TVET graduates in fields like renewable energy and digital infrastructure are increasingly securing stable incomes faster than many traditional degree holders — a seismic shift in how Kenyans think about success after school.

Union Wars: Wilson Sossion Eyes a Comeback

The drama isn’t confined to classrooms. The year 2026 marks national elections for both the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kuppet, and the stakes have never been higher. Former KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion is reportedly eyeing a dramatic comeback, citing immense pressure from teachers — igniting a legal and political showdown with incumbent Collins Oyuu. Daily Nation

Meanwhile, Gen Z teachers are pushing to form their own union to represent junior school teachers, with young radical branch secretaries eyeing the national stage. Daily Nation The old guard is feeling the heat.

A Ray of Hope: Science Fair Glory

Not all the news is grim. At the 62nd Kenya Science and Engineering Fair national finals held at Garissa High School, Western Region dominated the Junior School category with 550 cumulative points, outperforming Rift Valley and Nyanza. Teacher.co.ke And from Maranda High, a project called Hyperbloom, developed by students George Kingston and Ron Mathews, impressed judges with its AI-driven approach to educational data management. Teacher.co.ke

Kenya’s students, it turns out, are innovating faster than the system can keep up with them.

The bottom line? Kenya’s education revolution is real — but so are the funding gaps, the unpaid teachers, the missing labs, and the exam papers for sale on the streets. Whether the ambition of CBE survives contact with reality will define an entire generation of Kenyan children. The clock is ticking.