No, Kenyan government not offering free online courses to all adults
IN SHORT: A circulating post claims that Kenya's ministry of education will offer large-scale free online courses to people aged 18 to 80 from March 2025. But this is false.
A Facebook post claims that from 17 March 2025, Kenya's ministry of education will provide free online courses to all citizens between the ages of 18 and 80.
The post includes an image of president William Ruto and the Kenyan coat of arms. The text states that the courses will last four weeks and lead to an official certificate.
It also has "View Courses" text that looks like clickable links, implying that users can access specific courses tailored to various age groups. However, clicking anywhere on the image takes users to an external website.
The post has over 1,100 likes and over 250 comments.
Kenya's approach to online learning
Online learning has been growing in Kenya and this trend is expected to continue. The government occasionally offers free or discounted online learning opportunities through partnerships with national and international organisations.
The government has also encouraged universities to expand their online learning programmes, and several institutions now offer them.
The post claims a large-scale, free online education programme for all adults has been introduced. But is this true? We checked.
The post is fake and likely a scam
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When the government launches major education initiatives, it announces them through press briefings, ministry websites or other credible sources.
But there are clear signs that this post is misleading and possibly designed to deceive people. First, no official government source, whether the ministry of education, government websites or trusted news outlets, has announced such a programme. A real initiative of this scale would have been widely publicised.
Second, a keyword search reveals an almost identical post, this time with a photo of the Mauritian prime minister and the Mauritian coat of arms.
The template and text are the same, except that it claims that Mauritius will start the programme on 13 March 2025. This strongly suggests that the post in question is part of a broader pattern where the same fake template is modified for different countries.
In addition, clicking on the image takes the user to a suspicious website with an unusual keyword-stuffed URL. The website has a generic design with more links claiming to offer more courses.
A legitimate programme, whether from the government or a reputable organisation, would direct users to an authentic website, not an unknown link.
These tactics are often used in scams to trick users into providing personal information or clicking on ads. They can also lead to negative outcomes such as malware downloads.
The claim that the Kenyan government is offering all adults free online courses is false. The post is part of a pattern of misleading announcements falsely attributed to different countries.
