Regional director of education Reuben Kipturgo during the mention of Gatoto Primary School case before Justice Gregory Mutai at Milimani High court, Nairobi on September 23 /LEAH MUKANGAIA High Court judge has stepped in to protect candidates after about 300 pupils at Gatoto Primary School in Embakasi faced obstacles registering for national examinations.
The dispute centres on ownership of the school, which was established as a community facility in 1984.
Community representatives insist it is a government-funded public school, but petitioners secured court orders that reclassified it as an Alternative Provision of Basic Education and Training (APBET) institution.
This shift left many learners without National Education Management Information System (Nemis) numbers after the former management allegedly withheld essential records.
Regional Director of Education Reuben Kipturgo told the court that Nemis details are issued to an individual and cannot be transferred.
In seeking urgent intervention, counsel representing the institution asked the court "to allow teachers to prepare the children for exams".
They also sought relief in the matter brought by the Board of Directors (Gatoto Primary School) and the Board of Management, Gatoto Community Primary School (Non-Profit Community-Based APBET Primary School) against Peter Wabwoba Makali (Assistant County Commissioner), Mary Kimeu (subcounty Education Officer Embakasi) and five others.
Counsel Danstan Omari, defending the institution, told the court: "Three hundred children cannot be registered for exams because they don't have even Nemis numbers.”
He accused the other side of acting in bad faith, saying: "the petitioners are holding the children as pawns".
During the proceedings, Justice Gregory Mutai stressed that pupil welfare should come before legal argument.
"How do we enable the children to sit the national exams?" he asked, adding "Today's session was to confirm that children will sit Grade 6 and 9 exams, that's my concern."
The court summoned former headteacher Margaret Kimani, who was issued the documents now sought, to surrender the withheld records so registration could proceed. Kenya National Examinations Council chief executive officer David Njengere will also be required to appear in court to help find a way forward on 29 September.
The aim is to ensure candidates can sit their tests through a neighbouring secondary school.
The case began as a disagreement over the school's legal status. While the institution has operated as an exam centre since its founding until 2025 as a private school, Omari said the current impasse has left half of the candidates registered and half unregistered.
The court heard that the government has made provision for the children to sit at a nearby secondary school, to which Omari said they would be agreeable–if that solution worked.
Justice Mutai made clear that the session was not intended to resolve every historical grievance, but to confirm that the children would sit their Grade 6 and 9 assessments.
He urged counsel to collaborate rather than return to court with the same arguments and come up with practical solutions to enable the pupils sit national examinations without further delay.
