The Ministry of Education has introduced a new selection formula for secondary school placement for 1,179,182 pupils who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams this year.
The ministry says it will conduct only one selection and placement exercise in 2021 as compared to earlier selection exercises which opened the process to parents and candidates to choose their preferred schools during the second round of selection.
The new formula will likely affect candidates who scored less than 350 marks who normally land their selected schools during the second selection phase.
8,091 candidates scored above 400 marks while 282,090 candidates scored between 300 and 399 marks in the 2020 KCPE exam. The Education CS Magoha affirmed to parents that the new process would ensure learners get a fair opportunity in securing top slots in the coveted county and national schools.
“We want a system that will pick the best brains from Kiandutu slums in Thika and take them to Alliance Girls High school,” Magoha stated.
The form one selection process is normally determined by merit, candidate’s preferences, regional balance, and affirmative action which opts to favor students in regional areas.
Regional balance helps students who soared higher marks in their counties or sub-counties get an opportunity to join national schools. On Thursday, April 15, during the release of the 2020 KCPE results Professor Magoha announced that there would be a 100 percent transition of all candidates into secondary schools.
He also stated that the government would give 9,000 scholarships to students from needy and poor backgrounds.
“I wish to assure the country that the Ministry has already conducted an audit of all new and existing vacancies in all our private and public schools to enable us to admit all learners under the Free Day Secondary Education program.
“We are determined to work with the relevant agencies to ensure that no candidate misses a place in secondary school,” he stated.
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