Commission Secretary/CEO Dr Purity Ngina is among 52 members of the Multi-Stakeholder Task Team on Unrest in Schools appointed by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba.
The appointment was published in Gazette Notice No. 16733, dated 23 October 2026, under the Basic Education Act (Cap. 211). The Task Team is chaired by Prof. Peter Mulwa Mbithi and served by eight joint secretaries led by Dr William Sugut. It has 90 days from publication to complete its work.
Its terms of reference require it to study the reports of previous task forces and inquiries on school unrest and their implementation status, and to investigate the immediate, underlying and systemic causes of the 2026 unrest, taking into account differences by region, school category, gender, age, disability and boarding status.
The Task Team will evaluate the links between unrest and social media, smartphones and misinformation, examination-related stress, long academic terms, food, criminal gangs, religious extremism, substance abuse, bullying, peer influence, gender-based violence and copycat behaviour. It will also audit school safety, security, safeguarding and emergency preparedness, with particular attention to boarding schools and the obligations of the National Disaster Risk Management Act, No. 16 of 2026, and examine boarding school models, uniform costs, infrastructure, fees, capitation grants and the unit cost of education.
SCALE OF UNREST
In June 2026, Ministry of Education data showed that 204 senior secondary schools had reported cases of unrest, which Mr Ogamba said was less than two per cent of senior schools, with boarding schools accounting for most of those affected.
“Following due consultations within the government and other stakeholders, we wish to announce that we shall be forming a multi-stakeholder team to review the causes of unrest and make recommendations on strategies for stemming this challenge,” he said on 10 June.
THE COMMISSION’S EVIDENCE
Several areas in the terms of reference are covered by evidence the Commission published this year. The Teachers of Kenya audit, conducted with the Teachers Service Commission, records that TSC upheld 421 cases of sexual offences against learners involving teachers between the 2021/22 and 2023/24 financial years, and that none involved a learner with a disability. The 2025 study of schools in 19 marginalized counties found that 23.9 per cent of surveyed schools reported learners experiencing some form of violence.
“We have agreed that we are going to form a multi-stakeholder team to discuss the issues affecting students in all our schools.” Julius Migos Ogamba, Cabinet Secretary for Education, 28 June 2026
The Commission’s October 2026 assessment of Grade 10 placement found that boarding environments need safeguarding arrangements that take disability into account, and that dormitories in some schools are inaccessible to learners with mobility impairments.
The terms of reference require the Task Team to take account of differences by gender, age and disability, areas within the Commission’s mandate under Article 27 of the Constitution and Section 8 of the National Gender and Equality Commission Act.
