The release of Grade 10 placements has exposed a familiar problem. Parents are anxious, confused and in some cases angry. Much of this tension could have been avoided if the Ministry of Education had explained the placement process more clearly and earlier.

This is the first time Kenya is placing learners into senior secondary school under the new system. The Grade 9 assessment score is not a single exam mark. It is built from the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment, the school-based assessments done in Grades 7 and 8, and only 60 per cent comes from the summative assessment at Grade 9.

This is unfamiliar because most parents still expect a single high-stakes exam to decide everything.

The ministry has said placement was automated and considered learner choice, performance, aptitude, equity and school capacity. That explanation is technically correct, but it is not enough. Parents need simple language. They need to understand why a child with good marks may not land in a school they expected.

The decision not to place all top performers in a few elite schools is commendable. Spreading strong learners across many schools supports equity and can raise standards countrywide.

Still, dissatisfaction is real and it must be handled fairly. When the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment placement revision portal reopens on December 23, parents must be given a genuine chance to seek changes. The process must be transparent, accessible and well explained.

Quote of the day: “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” —British novelist George Eliot died on December 22, 1880