State extends Grade 10 placement review deadline

Grade 10 learners have until January 16 to transfer to their senior schools of choice, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has announced.

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The CS said the placement was done through a new Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) system manned by a team of ICT officials.

“The admissions are linked to the headquarters and various approvals made across the board,” Ogamba said.

Parents have complained over their children being placed in senior schools far away from home, including day schools located in distant counties.

The ministry had earlier given parents up to January 9 to review their children’s placement and request a transfer to their preferred institutions.

But with many parents still complaining that they were being turned away from senior schools while others said their children were placed in schools far below their academic qualifications, Ogamba said the extension will give them time to complete the transfer process.

Ogamba insisted that the system is automated and that the process has been smooth for a majority of learners.

“Those students who may want to transfer from one school to another are being allowed and various levels of approvals are being made to make that happen.”

“We have given them until Friday to make the placement process as seamless as possible and ensure each learner is in their school of choice so learning can progress in two weeks.”

He revealed that officials at the ministry worked tirelessly over December to allow learners to transfer their placements, saying this is in accordance with the government’s policy to ensure 100 percent transition.

There are 9,500 senior schools nationally, categorized into four main types that include academic pathways, accommodation, gender, and special needs to ensure placements are equitable and responsive to learner needs.

The grade 10 class is the pioneer Competency-Based Education (CBE) cohort with a total of 1,130,459 learners.

The CS spoke while monitoring grade 10 admission at Kamahuha Girls High School, which has been upgraded to a national school.

“I’m glad to say that the first student admitted here comes from Kilifi County, which indicates that the school has already taken its position as a national school,” he said.

He further noted that the government has invested heavily in the sector and is in the process of constructing 1,600 laboratories in schools nationally.

Area MP Mary Waithera lauded the government for giving the school a national status, saying it was started decades ago as a day school by residents before turning into a boarding institution.

“I’m a proud alumnus of this school. I graduated in 1987. It makes me happy to see it acquire a national status as an old student,” she said.

While the national government has committed to constructing a library and four classrooms at the school, Maragua said her NGCDF will establish a modern dining hall to reduce congestion.