The Ministry of Education (MoE) will open a seven-day review period for Grade 9 learners to revise their Senior School choices following a wave of dissatisfaction from parents and candidates across the country.
This corrective window, which is set to open on Tuesday, December 23, aims to address the widespread complaints regarding the inaugural placement of students into Grade 10 under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) framework. The decision comes as a relief to many families who found their children placed in institutions or academic pathways that did not align with their original preferences or assessment outcomes.
According to a press release dated December 21, 2025, signed by the Principal Secretary for the State Department for Basic Education, Amb. Prof. Julius Bitok, the government is committed to ensuring the transition process is as transparent and fair as possible. The Ministry acknowledged that while the initial placement was handled by an automated system designed to uphold merit and equity, several factors led to the current friction.
Bitok noted that the dissatisfaction voiced by stakeholders is primarily linked to the intense competition for limited slots in the nation’s most popular schools and a breakdown in communication between parents, learners, and school heads during the initial selection phase. Furthermore, discrepancies between a learner’s chosen pathway and their actual assessment results contributed to the placement mismatches.
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To facilitate this review, candidates and their guardians have been directed to contact their respective Grade 9 schools or visit MoE offices at the sub-county and county levels.
The revision process will be managed through the heads of institutions and processed via an automated system that will attempt to match learner preferences with available vacancies and academic performance.
The Ministry has also indicated that this seven-day window will serve as an opportunity to correct administrative errors, such as incorrect gender entries, which had been reported in the initial results. The government maintains that this iterative approach is necessary to refine the transition from Pioneer to Senior School.
The placement exercise is a critical component of the CBE system; the evaluation process for these placements is based on a comprehensive 20-20-60 assessment formula. This structure accounts for 40 per cent of a learner’s score, primarily from formative assessments, including the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) in Grade 6, and continuous teacher evaluations in Grades 7 and 8. The remaining 60 per cent is derived from the summative Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA), which was first administered in November of this year. Bitok explained that this staggered approach provides a more realistic and well-rounded evaluation of a learner’s readiness for their specific chosen pathway.
Data from the inaugural placement exercise highlights a significant lean toward technical fields, with approximately 49% of the candidates representing 512,000 learners being placed in the STEM pathway. Another 420,000 students, or 40%, were admitted into the Social Sciences, while 11% were directed toward the Arts and Sports tracks.
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Additionally, the Ministry confirmed the placement of 83,000 learners with special needs into various institutions nationwide. Despite these high numbers, the Ministry is focused on addressing the outliers who feel the system failed to capture their true intent or potential during the first round of allocations.
As the country prepares for the official opening of the review window this Tuesday, the government has called for constructive engagement from all involved parties. Bitok underscored that, as this is a pioneer undertaking, the Ministry is actively learning from emerging challenges to strengthen the CBE implementation.
By Masaki Enock
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