A profound crisis of planning has hit Kenya’s education sector. While thousands of students scramble for slots in prestigious national schools, a shocking government report reveals that 2,700 public secondary schools—nearly 30% of all high schools in the country—are operating with fewer than 150 students each.

This "ghost school" phenomenon has created a policy nightmare for the Ministry of Education. We are witnessing a collision between political vanity projects and harsh demographic reality. MPs, eager to use the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) for visibility, are building new schools next to existing, under-populated ones, fragmenting resources and leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for empty classrooms.

The Economics of Waste

Education CS Julius Ogamba has termed the situation "ironic and unsustainable." A school with 100 students still requires a principal, a deputy, science teachers, and support staff. This spreads the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) payroll thin, denying well-populated schools the teachers they desperately need.

"There is no point having a school with 10 students, a headmaster, and a watchman," the CS argued. "We must face reality and change course."

The Grade 10 Complication

This fragmentation comes at the worst possible time as the country grapples with the transition of 1.13 million learners to Grade 10 Senior School. Instead of consolidating resources to build functional laboratories and libraries in fewer schools, the system is littered with "shells"—structures with no equipment and no students.

• The Merger Solution: The Ministry is now mulling a radical (and politically explosive) plan to close or merge these small schools.
• The Political backlash: Expect fierce resistance from MPs. For a politician, a new school gate is a vote magnet; a closed school is a betrayal.

The choice is now stark: continue funding political monuments, or consolidate to provide quality education. The children of Kenya cannot afford to be pawns in this game of bricks and mortar.