NAIROBI: The Government Thursday released new Form One selection guidelines that will see more candidates from marginalised areas join national schools.
The new selection guidelines provide preferential treatment for candidates from regions that have always posted dismal performance in the national exams.
“In order to recognise merit, the top five candidates of either gender in each sub-county to be placed in national schools of their choice where possible irrespective of whether from public or private primary schools,” reads the reviewed guidelines in part.
This is a departure from the current guidelines where only the top three candidates of either gender are picked for national schools.
The top three, however, will be selected first across all sub-counties while the remaining two will be based on candidature strength.
In case a sub-county misses a slot due to low candidature, affirmative action will be applied.
Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said the reviewed guidelines will ensure proportionate sharing of national and extra-county school places between public and private schools.
The revised guidelines with input from major education stakeholders also grouped 103 national schools into four clusters. Candidates will be expected to choose one school from each cluster.
The move, Kaimenyi said, will give students a chance to join national schools even if not their preferred choice. Candidates who will miss out in national schools will be considered for placement in extra-county schools.
For extra-county schools, the host sub-county will be allocated 20 per cent, 40 per cent for the host county while the remaining 40 per cent will be shared by other counties. The guidelines further require candidates to choose three extra-county schools, one of which must be from outside the host county of their primary school.
In this category, candidates from public schools will take up to 70 per cent slots while those in private schools will compete for the remaining 30 per cent. But Kenya Private Schools Association Executive Officer Peter Ndoro said the new guidelines will result in a mass exodus from private to public schools as they provide better opportunities for candidates in public schools.
Mr Ndoro said while they welcome grouping of national schools into four clusters, they are against the criteria used in selecting students to national and extra-county schools.
He said the guidelines are not exclusive and are only intended to benefit those in the public primary schools. He said such preferential treatment should only be accorded to students from disadvantaged areas.
