Mt Kenya schools face closure due to low Grade 10 enrollment

Majority of day secondary schools in the Mt Kenya region are facing possible closure due to lack of students as most of the C3 and C4 schools remain empty.

This happens when national and the extra-county institutions in the region have reported congestion in their dormitories and classrooms, possibly because of admitting students from other regions.

On Friday, Wahundura Day School in Mathioya, Murang’a, released its teachers to other nearby schools owing to low student enrolment.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, many secondary school principals said the institutions are on the verge of closing owing to the lack of students to sustain enrolment.

The school heads said the government blundered when the Ministry of Education (MoE) surrendered admission powers to the principals alleging that admission letters were issued to undeserving learners with low marks.

“Our investigations revealed that some of the Grade 10 learners with less than 40 points were enrolled in C1 and C2, which was an abuse of the process,” said one of the head teachers.

Some of the big schools had big numbers of Grade 10 leaners as the C3 and C4 struggle to attract even few learners.

According to the reports from the Murang’a County education office; Murang’a High School received 1,062 learners, Mugoiri Girls 729, Njiri 749, Kiaguthu 637, Githumu 527, Kahuhia 625, Githunguri Girls 630, Kiria-ini Girls 535, Gaichanjiru 491, and Kangema 454.

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Education consultant Charles Njoroge blamed the scenario in day schools on the existing confusion in MoE in handling CBE problems after it lost admission control.

Njoroge said the challenge emerged after the government allowed the principals tpo admit the grade 10 learners as the confusion reigned.

The majority of the national schools, Njoroge said, have more than 1,000 learners, exceeding their capacity in boarding and tuition area.

“If not checked, the learners in senior school will be wasted due to the greed of the secondary school, where compensation for capitation from the government plays a role,” said Njoroge.

The majority of the day school principals attribute the problem to uncoordinated decisions from the government despite the green light given in past years in the formulation of the CBE.

The secondary schools are flooded with students, as the management focuses on the increased capitation without checking on the availability of learning materials and textbooks.

In Murang’a County, the secondary schools have enrolled 31,411 grade 10 students out of the 25,037 who sat for KJSEA.

County Director of Education Officer Phillip Wambua listed Gacharage,Murugaru and Mweru Yamugwe day schools as the schools that are yet to attract grade 10 learners.

By Our reporter