Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha on Thursday, May 4, moved to trim the powers of school principals in form one admission over the sale of slots of students who fail to report to their respective institutions.
In a circular addressed to school heads, Basic Education Principal Secretary Dr Julius Jwan noted that the ministry will have the final authority on declaring the end of the admission exercise.
This means that students will have leeway to report to school days after May 10, the final reporting date, in line with the government's policy of 100 per cent for a complete transition.
"Because of the 100 per cent transition, schools shall not replace any student who fails to turn up until the Cabinet Secretary - Ministry of Education declares the exercise over," read the letter in part.
Magoha particularly emphasized that students who were beneficiaries of the state's Elimu Scholarships should have their places reserved until they reported to school.
In addition, PS Jwan directed that school heads submit daily reports on admissions to the County Directors of Education using a template provided by the ministry. In addition, this information must be uploaded to the education database.
"The details of the students who have reported should be uploaded in the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) portal," the statement by the PS reiterated.
On May 4, Magoha, while responding to concerns raised by administrators on the capacity of schools ahead of Form One admission, directed that no school should turn away any student on the basis of infrastructure.
"The child is a Government child. Who are you to start saying that there is no space in the school? If there is no space, do you think we are unable to create space," the Education boss noted.
He also called for school heads to allow needy students to report to school without school uniforms. School heads noted that they have had to convert some of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) classrooms into hostels.
1.2 million candidates sat the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). The candidates were placed in the 8,933 public schools and with some getting admission to a section of the 1,554 private institutions.
Learners are also staring at a crash program with the academic year having been condensed into just six months. The normal school calendar will resume in January 2023.
