Schools To Host ID Registration Drive For Students Turning 18, Ministry Confirms

Secondary school students who have already turned 18 will soon be able to get their national identity cards without ever leaving campus, after the Ministry of Education cleared the way for registration officers to visit schools countrywide.

Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa confirmed that the National Registration Bureau (NRB) has been given the green light to issue ID cards to all eligible students on school grounds, part of a wider push to get more Kenyans documented ahead of the 2027 General Election.

The approval was laid out in a notice dated August 31, 2026, which sets the registration window from August 31 through October 16. During that stretch, NRB officers are expected to move from school to school across the country to process applications.

“This is to confirm that this office has considered and granted approval to the request by the National Registration Bureau for access to Secondary Schools for issuance of National Identity Cards to students across the country,” Ololtuaa said in the notice.

School administrators have been asked to give registration officials the access they need, though the Ministry was careful to stress that the exercise shouldn’t get in the way of lessons or exam preparation. Balancing the two will largely fall to individual school heads as officers rotate through classrooms and offices over the coming weeks.

To keep things running smoothly, Ololtuaa also wrote separately to Regional Directors of Education, instructing them to help coordinate access on the ground and make sure registration teams aren’t held up as they move between institutions.

The logic behind the school-based approach is fairly straightforward: it saves students the hassle and cost of travelling to a registration centre, which for many learners in far-flung schools can mean a long and expensive trip.

Bringing officers directly to campuses is meant to close that gap, particularly for students in areas where the nearest NRB office isn’t exactly close by.

The timing isn’t a coincidence either. The drive lands just months before the country heads into election season, and the numbers explain why officials are eager to get ahead of it.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is projecting the voter roll to grow from the 22.1 million people registered in 2022 to somewhere around 28.5 million by 2027, a jump that will require a lot of newly eligible young Kenyans to have their documentation sorted well in advance.

It’s worth noting, though, that holding a national ID doesn’t automatically put someone on the voters’ roll. Getting an ID card is simply the first step; anyone wanting to vote will still need to register separately with the IEBC once they have their card in hand.

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