Key agencies to be merged in education sector shake-up
Education
By
Mike Kihaki
| Feb 12, 2026
Major changes are in the offing that could see the merger of key student financing and placement bodies.
Proposals fronted by the Cabinet are seeking to have the Higher Education Loans Board, the Universities Fund Board, the TVET Funding Board and the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service consolidated into a single agency.
The new entity will be responsible for student placement, loans, scholarships and bursaries.
This means the funding and admissions functions will be centralised, according to proposals adopted by the Cabinet yesterday, which are part of recommendations made by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms in its 2023 report.
The Tertiary Education Placement and Funding Bill, 2024, will now be forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration before they are adopted as law.
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President William Ruto has repeatedly criticised the parallel structures that currently manage higher education financing, saying they create confusion, inequity and inefficiencies.
“It cannot be right that a student must navigate four different institutions to access placement and funding. We are simplifying the system so that access to education is fair, transparent and efficient,” said the President said in a previous event.
In the changes, the Cabinet also approved the transition of the Kenya National Examinations Council from a high-stakes examination model to a competency-based assessment system aligned with the new curriculum.
The move will be anchored in the proposed Kenya National Educational Assessments Bill, 2025.
The Presidential Working Party found that excessive examinations pressure had distorted teaching, encouraged cheating and narrowed learning outcomes.
“Assessment must support learning, not terrorise learners and teachers. Competency-based assessment will allow us to identify talent, nurture creativity and prepare learners for real life,” said President Ruto during the launch of the task force report.
The Cabinet also endorsed amendments to align the Basic Education Act with the Competency-Based Education (CBE) structure, including the introduction of mandatory teacher upskilling and continuous professional development.
Further, an Education Administrative Tribunal will be established to handle disputes within the sector.
Similarly, the Kenya National Qualifications Framework (Amendment) Bill, 2024, clarifies the role of the Kenya National Qualifications Authority, restricting it to setting national standards while leaving accreditation and recognition of qualifications to sector regulators.
The reforms signal what the government describes as a structural overhaul aimed at aligning education governance, funding and assessment with the country’s new curriculum framework.
Under the reforms, the Ministry of Education is also expected to front the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Also to be presented before MPs is the Pre-Service Education and In-Service Training in Basic Education Bill, 2025.
It seeks to establish the training for teacher preparation and continuous professional development, addressing concerns that many teachers were inadequately prepared for the rollout of CBE.
Beyond legislation, the Cabinet also approved Phase III of the Kenya–China TVET project, which will equip 70 technical and vocational colleges with modern equipment and train 1,190 instructors to support full implementation of Competency-Based Education and Training.
“We must dismantle the false hierarchy between academic and technical education. Kenya’s future depends on skilled artisans, technicians and innovators,” Ruto said.