The education sector, once the pride of Kenya’s public service, is choking under the weeds of corruption. From the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) recruitment scandals to the opaque Grade 10 placement system, the dreams of millions of children are being auctioned to the highest bidder.

Reports of desperate graduates paying bribes of up to KES 300,000 to secure TSC teaching slots have become normalized. Meanwhile, the chaotic transition to Senior School under the CBC curriculum has opened new avenues for graft, with wealthy parents allegedly "buying" slots in prestigious national schools while meritorious students from poor backgrounds are relegated to day schools.

The Cost of Corruption

When a teacher buys their job, they enter the classroom not as a mentor, but as an investor looking to recoup their capital. This transactional mindset poisons the learning environment. Similarly, a rigged placement system kills the spirit of meritocracy that is the bedrock of national exams.

• TSC on the Spot: The commission must digitize its recruitment fully and remove the human element that facilitates bribery. The current "roadmap" interviews are breeding grounds for nepotism.
• The Grade 10 Cartels: Ministry officials manipulating the NEMIS system to alter placements must be prosecuted. Education CS Julius Migos has promised action, but we have heard these threats before.
• Equity at Stake: If education ceases to be the great equalizer, we are cementing a class system where the rich stay rich and the poor stay ignorant.

A Call to Action

Civil society, parents, and the EACC must wake up. We cannot afford to have a "tender-preneur" mentality in our schools. Curbing this graft is not just an administrative duty; it is a moral imperative to save the soul of the nation.