Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has stepped in to ensure vulnerable learners from informal settlements do not miss secondary education due to lack of school fees, highlighting what he describes as a silent crisis facing thousands of families in the city.
This week, the governor personally escorted two orphaned boys, Nicholas Otieno and Moses Njiru, from Mukuru kwa Njenga to State House Boys’ High School, where he cleared their full Grade 10 fees and oversaw their admission. He said the gesture was meant to send a powerful message that a child’s background should not limit their future, and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to education as a key equaliser.
Sakaja also pledged to fully sponsor five other financially distressed learners from different parts of Nairobi. His intervention comes at a time when, despite Kenya’s policy of 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school, many students in informal settlements continue to struggle to enrol due to hidden and rising costs.
Official data shows that while the national transition rate stands at 96 per cent, enrolment does not always translate into completion, especially in urban slums. Studies indicate that between 12 and 18 per cent of learners in high-density informal areas fail to join secondary school because of financial constraints, even with government subsidies in place.
In Nairobi alone, more than two million people live in informal settlements, and estimates suggest that one in three learners faces serious financial barriers when moving to secondary school. The average annual cost of a day secondary school ranges between KSh 40,000 and KSh 80,000, excluding uniforms, textbooks, transport, and meals, which significantly raise the overall burden on low-income households.
Education experts warn that failure to transition to secondary school entrenches intergenerational poverty, particularly in urban areas where secondary education greatly improves employment prospects. Studies show that completing secondary school can increase lifetime earnings by up to 40 per cent.
To address this gap, Sakaja recently launched a KSh 170 million Governor’s Scholarship Programme, expected to support over 4,000 vulnerable learners across Nairobi’s wards. The initiative prioritises orphans, children from informal settlements, and high-performing students without financial support, reinforcing the county’s commitment to inclusive and equitable access to education.
