By Erick Nyayiera
Ministry of Education officials undertaking form one selection have been asked to exercise fairness in the selection process regardless of whether the pupils sat their KCPE exams in private or public primary schools.
Regional Education and Learning Initiative (RELI) Africa Technical Advisor, Mr Thomas Andiwo Obondo, noted that the form one selection team currently going on in Naivasha should ensure pupils are selected to join secondary schools based on merit and their preferred choices.
Mr Andiwo who spoke to Education News in Kisumu town observed that previous selections have been marred by discrimination where pupils who learnt in public schools were given priority in joining the best national schools over their counterparts from private primary schools.
“I have often said there is no private child in Kenya. Children who learn in private schools do not do so by their choice and so they should not be punished for going to such schools. The selection team should base their selection on merit and the choices the pupils made for the preferred schools for fairness to prevail” Andiwo added.
A team from the ministry of Education and ICT experts are currently in Naivasha for the form one selection which kicked off on Friday barely one and half months after the release of the KCPE exams against the backdrop of limited form one spaces occasioned by Covid-19 pandemic.
The RELI Africa Technical Advisor also called on the Ministry of Education to embrace flexibility and allow parents to transfer their children to schools which are convinient to them in case they are selected to join schools where they will incur more expenses.
He observed that previously, the Ministry of Education has been so rigid to allow transfers after form one selection but said that some cases need to be given special consideration to give parents easy time.
“We want the ministry to be more flexible. After the selection, some parents will receive calling letters to schools where their children did not choose. In most cases the cost of accessing the schools by the students is too expensive for the poor parents and in some instances some children need close monitoring by parents because of their health conditions,” he said.
Andiwo said the Ministry should allow such parents who are not satisfied with the selection to request principals for chances in preferred schools and if available, be admitted without unnecessary roadblocks from the Ministry.
He further called on the selection team in Naivasha to expedite the process to give parents ample time to prepare their children to join form one.
“It has been more than a month since the results were released but I know there are challenges brought by the global pandemic. Those in Naivasha should move quickly so that parents can get the letters on time and begin preparation,” Andiwo said.
He on the other hand urged parents to take advantage of the government’s policy on 100% transition and let their children join form one irrespective of the marks they scored.
Andiwo discouraged parents against opting to take their children to Jua Kali sector because of bad performance, saying every child should join secondary school before making a decision on what they want to do in life.
The education expert observed that during the release of last year’s national exams there were pupils who did not do well at primary school level, but when they were given the opportunity to join secondary schools they scored exemplary grades.
Andiwo said any student who completes secondary school irrespective of their grade has a better world view than those who complete only primary school and, therefore, can be trained in any technical skills that would change their lives compared to those who join the Jua Kali sector after standard 8.
