Education stakeholders are concerned about the high number of students who are yet to be to join form one despite the government's 100 per cent transition policy.
Parents who spoke to the media decried the cost of education in the country, alleging that headteachers were making exorbitant demands including hiking school fees.
Speaking while releasing the KCSE results of Oriwa Boys High School on Saturday, May 14, Education Cabinet Secretary Magoha noted that the escalating situation would be resolved as they would begin the mop-up exercise on Monday, May 16, so that no student is left behind.
"We still have a sizeable number of students who are yet to report. I think we can say that time is not yet over as we are beginning the exercise on Monday," Magoha stated.
The CS had initially instructed schools not to send any student home due to lack of fees. This has however not been adhered to for almost two weeks since Form One students reported to school.
Prof Magoha had warned that headteachers who defied the directive would face dire consequences.
"The school is not yours, it belongs to the government so stop punishing children by sending them home. Some of them come from extremely poor backgrounds," he stated.
Since 2019, the Ministry of Education has been pushing for the 100% transition.
"Under the 100 per cent transition policy, the Government of President Uhuru Kenyatta has sustained the push to have every KCPE candidate gets enrolled in Form One and progresses to Form Four.
I am proud to have led the campaigns that have achieved the 100 per cent transition of two KCPE cohorts (2019 and 2020). This has seen enrolment in secondary schools’ grow from 1.3 million in 2008 to 3.5 million in 2022," stated Magoha on April 23, 2022, during the release of KCSE results.
Further, the CS pointed out the issue of changing schools as another factor that contributed to the increasing number of students not reporting to school. He noted that the habit should be shunned.
"I think that the reporting in school is still very low and I have a feeling that some people still think that they are going to change schools and I am going to give firm instructions to school heads that the issue of changing school should stop," he stated during a previous press briefing at Kisumu Girls High School.
While releasing the Form One selection process at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in April 11, 2022, Magoha noted that 38,797 out of 1,225,502 candidates were admitted to National Schools while 214,960 were placed in Extra-County schools.
During the meeting, he urged parents to only pay the fee stipulated by the Ministry of Education.
"As a Ministry, we are committed to ensure that parents/guardians with learners who will be joining Form One are not overburdened with unnecessary requirements that increase the cost of education. Principals should exercise caution while listing student 11 requirements as part of the measures to reduce the cost of education,” the CS stated.
