The release of the 2025 KCSE results has exposed the deepening educational apartheid in Northern Kenya. While private academies in Garissa celebrated a harvest of As and Bs, public schools—plagued by teacher shortages and lack of facilities—struggled to post mean grades above D+.

Top performers like Al-Azar and Mnara Academy dominated the county rankings, producing 80% of the students qualifying for university. In contrast, several sub-county public schools failed to send a single student to university, a stark indicator of the collapse of public education in the region.

The "TSC Crisis"

The root cause is the exodus of non-local teachers due to security fears. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has struggled to fill vacancies, leaving students to be taught by untrained volunteers. "You cannot compete with a private school that has a lab and a full staffroom when you have neither," said a public school headteacher, speaking anonymously.

• The Economic Barrier: Private education in Garissa is expensive, effectively locking out the poor. The results confirm that in the North, quality education is a luxury good, not a public right.
• Community Solutions: Local leaders are calling for an affirmative action fund to pay "local contract teachers" at competitive rates. They argue that waiting for TSC to fix the problem is a strategy for failure.

A Lost Generation?

The disparity raises urgent questions about equity. If the trend continues, the professional class of Garissa will be drawn exclusively from the wealthy, widening the inequality gap in one of Kenya’s poorest counties.