Education Ministry Moves To Shield Schools And Exams As El Niño Rains Loom

With forecasters warning of El Niño rains between October and December 2026, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba isn’t waiting around. He’s already pulling the right people into a room to make sure schools and, crucially, national exams don’t grind to a halt once the heavy rains set in.

On Wednesday, September 16, Ogamba chaired a multi-agency preparedness meeting that brought together Ministry of Education field officers, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), the Kenya Meteorological Service Authority (KMSA), and the National Disaster Management Unit.

The goal was straightforward: get everyone coordinating on early warning systems, emergency response, and contingency plans so that learners, teachers, and other education staff aren’t left exposed when the rains hit.

One of the biggest concerns on the table was making sure national examinations and assessments can still go ahead even in areas where flooding, washed-out roads, or other rain-related disruptions might otherwise get in the way.

It’s the kind of scenario Kenya has dealt with before, heavy rains cutting off access to exam centres, and this time, Ogamba wants a plan in place well before it becomes a crisis.

Alongside that, he’s also pushing to safeguard school buildings and property from storm damage, and generally trying to keep interruptions to a minimum so the academic calendar doesn’t slip.

This isn’t the ministry’s first move on the issue either. Back in August, Ogamba met with Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Dr Ahmed Idris to hash out emergency measures for schools ahead of the anticipated El Niño conditions, and Wednesday’s meeting builds directly on that groundwork.

“Through this collaboration, we are strengthening our ability to respond to emergencies, particularly in areas where flooding and other weather-related disasters could affect access to schools and examination centres,” Ogamba said.

KMSA has been flagging this for a while. The authority says El Niño conditions are likely to shape weather patterns across Kenya through the final stretch of 2026, with the October-to-December period expected to bring above-average rainfall.

Back in its June outlook, KMSA put the odds of El Niño developing between June and August at 80 to 82 percent, while estimating a 90 to 96 percent chance that the phenomenon would persist through the rest of the year.

The agency has also cautioned that the event could turn out moderate to strong, which raises the stakes when it comes to flooding, infrastructure damage, and disrupted transport in various parts of the country.

That warning has set off a broader scramble across government, with agencies ramping up weather monitoring, disaster response planning, and early-warning systems well ahead of the rains arriving.

For the Education Ministry specifically, Ogamba’s latest push is about getting schools ready before the weather turns, protecting the people inside them, and making sure extreme conditions don’t end up derailing either everyday learning or the national exams that so much rides on.

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