By Amoto Ndiewo
Thousands of candidates who sat 2020 KCPE exams will miss their preferred secondary schools due to limited spaces in some of the county’s top institutions.
Officials formulating guidelines for form one selection exercise, currently holed in Naivasha are grappling with enormous task of placing all the 1,119,192 candidates in secondary schools.
Judging from the past experience it wouldn’t be surprising that the vast majority of those candidates picked their first choices from the cream of the 17 original national schools. And in gunning for the original 17 national schools, the students shun the jonnie-come-lately 86 other nationals, elevated to such status in the advent of devolution.
Under such circumstances those in form selection are duty bound to develop a criteria where first choice school rule will not be adhered to since they don’t have space.
Past selection exercise indicates that students often shun national schools in far flung counties like Turkana, Mandera, Wajir, West Pokot, Lamu, Tana River, and Marsabit.
Though in far flung areas most national or extra county secondary schools are very good and better equipped. As much as it can be explained that some of these far flung areas have a history of being banditry prone, and insecurity reigns like the refrain of a popular song, interestingly it beats logic that even residents don’t apply to be admitted in these well-equipped secondary schools.
Since majority of candidates in places like North Eastern prefer Alliance, Nairobi school, Lenana, Maseno, Kenya High , State House Girls, Pangani, those in form one selection, have no option but to strike a balance.
Despite Education CS George Magoha stating that an audit of new and existing vacancies in public and private secondary schools has been made to ensure all learners transit to secondary schools, there are always behind the scene machination to defy the official stand.
In this respect the Education CS George Magoha’s narrative “ that to ensure that all candidates are placed in schools of their choice based on performance and availability of vacancies , the ministry of Education will employ a watertight system that will be both credible and high integrity,’’ is like kicking a ball in the long grass.
After the 2019 KCPE results were announced it emerged that Pangani Girls with a capacity of 336 girls received 111, 817 applications and Alliance High School with a capacity of 384 boys had 83, 489 applications and Kenya High with 336 slots received 49,727 applications.
This means that those missing on the first choice are left at the the mercy of the remaining schools which they had least interest in.
Cases the students of the ministry placing students in schools they had not chosen but marches the marks they obtained aren’t uncommon.
In 2019, 33,009 students went to 103 national schools, 184,816 joined extra county secondary schools while 188,454 joined county secondary schools. The sub counties absorbed a whopping 669,145 students and some 777special needs students were placed in their choices in regular schools..
Form one student admission is done online through National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), and learners selected to join national, extra county and county secondary school receive admission letters online.
On reception the students present letters to head teacher of the primary school they sat their KCPE for authentication and later verified by the admitting school principals.
However, due to limited number of vacancies in choice secondary schools and behind the scene mischief, Magoha warned parents against using dubious means to secure slots for their children in coveted schools.
He further warned people against collecting money to place students in choice secondary schools. He cited an individual who had collected Sh315, 000 with promises to take children to Alliance High School. Magoha wondered how this could be done and said: “this being Kenya, a country known for corruption it can’t be ruled out.”
In 2020 KCPE ,exams, 8,091 scooped 400 marks and above and 282,090 students scored between 300-399 marks while 589,027 had between 200 -299 marks .Another 299,677 candidates scored between 100-199 and 307 scored between 01- 99 marks out of a possible 500 marks .
With the near impossible question of 100% transition rate to secondary schools it remains to be seen which student will who join which school using what criteria ?
Amoto is a correspondent with Education News based in Garissa.
