Form one selection date pushed foward

Parents of candidates who did their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education may have to wait longer to know which school their children will be called to. This is after the form One selection was pushed forward to enable selection in extra-county schools.

According to Daily Nation, Education Principal Secretary Bellio Kipsang said the launch scheduled for Friday November 9th has been moved to December 13, 2016 at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), Desai road, Nairobi. “Please note that the reporting date for Form One still remain January 9,” said Dr Kipsang in a circular to education officials.

More than 942,021 candidates who sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination will be competing for about 780,000 slots in secondary schools. In last year’s exam, 759,603 out of 925,744 joined secondary schools with national schools having 23,085 slots, special needs education schools 1,424, extra-county 63,990, county 123,435, sub-county 481,318 and private schools 66,351.

A total of 207,141 candidates scored between 301 – 400 while 501,552 scored 201 – 300marks, 221,438 scored between 101 – 200 and 6,747 candidates scored 100 marks and below. This means that a total of 226,000 will be locked out of secondary schools and are expected to join youth polytechnics.

PICK ONE ELITE SCHOOL

The competition for top national schools is also expected to be minimal after 103 national schools were clustered into four categories. The candidates were only be allowed to pick one elite national school when making their choices.

The 18 schools considered more prestigious are in the third cluster, meaning no candidate can select any two of them. The schools include; Alliance Boys, Alliance Girls, Mangu High, Maseno, Starehe Boys, Starehe Girls, Nairobi School, Lenana School and the Kenya High School.

Others are Moi Forces Lanet, Moi Forces Academy, Utumishi Academy, Moi Girls Eldoret, Nakuru Boys, Nakuru Girls, Maryhill Girls, Loreto Limuru and Limuru Girls. A total of 30 national schools, most of which used to be top provincial schools, are lumped in cluster one.

They include; Pangani Girls, Maranda Boys, Lugulu Girls, Friends School Kamusinga, Meru School, Kapsabet Boys, Kisii School, Kakamega School and Mama Ngina Girls in Mombasa. The second and fourth clusters have 25 and 30 schools, respectively, mainly from marginalised counties like Tana River, Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Turkana, Kajiado, Lamu, Samburu and West Pokot.

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has assured parents candidates will be admitted into public secondary schools based on merit, quotas, equity, affirmative action and candidate choices. “The selection will also ensure that children from disadvantaged backgrounds continue with their education,” said Dr Matiang’i.