The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has firmly opposed former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s proposal to devolve the management of primary and secondary schools to county governments.
Odinga made the call last week during the 2025 Devolution Conference in Homa Bay, arguing that bringing education closer to counties would reduce bureaucracy and improve service delivery.
“We must break the cycle of managing schools from far away in Nairobi. The time has come to devolve education up to secondary school. It makes no sense for a Cabinet Secretary for Education to travel to Marsabit or Garissa to inspect primary schools. That should be the work of county governors,” Odinga said.
His remarks come at a time when secondary schools are grappling with financial strain following delays in government capitation funds.
KNUT leaders, however, dismissed the proposal, warning that devolving education would disrupt the sector. They cited counties’ poor track record in handling Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) as proof of limited capacity.
KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu said counties had failed to ensure quality in ECDE programs.
“We have seen that county governments are unable to manage ECDE. There is no proper quality assurance. If they cannot handle ECDE, how can they manage additional levels of education?” Oyuu said in Wote Town, Makueni County.
National Treasurer James Ndiku echoed the concerns, saying the proposal was both misplaced and ill-timed.
“This is not the right moment to discuss devolving more levels of education because we are still rolling out the competency-based curriculum, which is far more expensive,” Ndiku noted.
The union vowed to mobilize teachers against the proposal should it reach the public participation stage. At the same time, they applauded President William Ruto’s administration for employing thousands of teachers over the past three years and for working with KNUT to stabilize the sector.
Odinga also used the Homa Bay conference to renew his push for the abolition of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) and the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), insisting the funds should instead be channeled through counties to support education.
He further revealed that full devolution of education was initially considered during the drafting of the 2010 Constitution but was abandoned after KNUT strongly resisted the idea.
KNUT has now accused Odinga of “overstepping” and urged him to leave education matters to sector experts.
 has firmly opposed former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s proposal to devolve the management of primary and secondary schools to county governments.){kind=link}
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