The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services and the National Registration Bureau (NRB), has launched a mobile National ID registration drive targeting eligible secondary school students.
In a statement on May 29, 2025, the Ministry of Education stated that the registration will take place during the current second term, running from May to August 2025.
“This initiative is designed to ensure that Kenyan students who have attained the age of 18 are registered for National Identity Cards while still in school, enabling them to access tertiary education placements, job opportunities and financial aid such as HELB loans without delay upon completion of secondary education,” read part of the statement.
Principals or their deputies will serve as identification agents for their students, replacing the role played by National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs).
Ministry of Education Launches Issuance of ID
Additionally, authorities were urged to promptly inform all secondary school principals within their jurisdictions to cooperate with County and Deputy County Registration Officers to ensure the successful implementation of the exercise in their respective schools.
Regional and county education officials have been instructed to work closely with County and Deputy County Registration Officers to guarantee the smooth execution of the registration exercise in all secondary schools.
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Registration of IDs
In 2024, the Registration of Persons (Amendment) Bill, 2024, sought to amend Section 107 of the Registration of Persons Act to allow for the registration of eligible students in secondary schools.
The Bill, sponsored by Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, proposed that the principal registrar carry out an annual national registration exercise for secondary school students, with the deadline set for the last day of August.
The Bill stated that the principal registrar shall, by the last day of August each year, conduct a national registration programme for all secondary school students eligible for registration at the close of the exercise.
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The principal registrar will be required to collect the particulars required under section 5 (1) from all secondary school students eligible for registration between the date after the close of the programme and the last day of December each year for the purpose of registration.
Further, it aimed to simplify the ID acquisition process for the hundreds of thousands transitioning from secondary school to universities, where the identification card was a requirement for placement by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) and access to funding from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
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