The plan suggests that registration should be done directly in secondary schools instead of students travelling to registration offices.
The Registration of Persons (Amendment) Bill, 2025, sponsored by Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, aims to make the process faster and more accessible for young people.
He defended the proposal, saying it will help students secure opportunities early in life.
He stated, “IDs are not only identification documents, but key documents in job recruitment and accessing various government services and that is why we should have it issued to all eligible youths in schools.”
Under the plan, government officials would visit schools annually to register eligible students.
The goal is to complete the exercise by August 31st, after which the IDs would be delivered directly to schools free of charge.
However, the proposal has raised concern from legal experts and government agencies who say it may expose students’ personal data and disrupt school activities.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) warned that the bill does not clearly address protection of student information, especially for minors. LSK representative Ruth Nyaberi said:
“The bill is silent on data protection and we proposed an insertion of a clause to secure mining of minors' data.”
She emphasized that without strong safeguards, collecting biometric data from children could create legal and ethical risks.
The National Registration Bureau (NRB) also raised concerns about whether the plan fits within existing legal structures.
Its Secretary, Gilbert Kitiyo, said changes would be needed in other laws to make the process workable.
He explained:
“The legal amendment should cause a consequential amendment to the education act to provide specific settings aside in the school calendar to allow for the registration exercise.”
He added that without proper planning, the exercise could interfere with the school timetable and affect learning.
The proposal targets about 3 million students who become eligible for IDs each year.
Stakeholders say this is a large-scale operation that would require careful coordination to avoid disrupting academic work.
Education officials have suggested that schools may need dedicated days in the calendar to accommodate the exercise.
The National Assembly’s Committee on Administration and Internal Security, chaired by Saku MP Raso Dido, has already heard views from stakeholders.
The committee will now review the submissions and prepare a report to guide the next stage of the bill.
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