Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has announced that mathematics will once again become a compulsory subject in Kenya’s senior secondary schools. This decision reverses a previous policy that allowed students to opt out of the subject depending on their chosen academic pathway.

Ogamba made the announcement during the National Conversation on the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) on Thursday, April 24, 2025. He stated that the Ministry of Education had listened to the concerns raised by stakeholders and reached the conclusion that some form of mathematics should be mandatory in all three senior school pathways. Under the new directive, students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) pathway will take pure mathematics, while those in the Arts and Sports Science and Social Sciences pathways will study a simplified version of the subject.

The reversal follows widespread criticism from professionals and the public, who argued that eliminating mathematics as a compulsory subject could undermine the country’s workforce and economic sustainability.

This policy change is part of ongoing reforms under the CBC, which aims to align education with students’ career aspirations and the demands of the job market.