President Uhuru Kenyatta’s pledge on Form One admission

President Uhuru Kenyatta. (Photo: Courtesy)

President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed that Form One admissions must be completed by next month.

Uhuru said all 900,000 students who sat this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations must know which secondary schools they will join by December 25.

“I direct that, in line with our promise of free day secondary school education, all candidates who sat their KCPE this year will know their Form One placement by Christmas this year,” said Uhuru.

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has said all candidates who scored 400 marks and above in the examination would be admitted to national schools. This means 9,846 will join the much-coveted schools.

Uhuru said education was among his top priorities during his second term in office and promised more reforms in the sector.

“The greatest joy of my presidency has been my interaction with them (students). They have and remain my greatest strength and inspiration. They are a clean slate, on which we can write the future,” said Uhuru.

Major investment

He promised more investing in the country’s children.

“I see the promise of a nation on the rise; in them, I see the promise of a united nation, whose identity is not defined by ethnic markings. We shall overcome our ethnic barriers. And we shall do so by learning from our children.”

The President said during the last five years, his government had made major investments that had enabled schoolchildren to do better.

“We have ensured that our children can now study at night because we have connected thousands of schools and millions of homes to electricity,” said Uhuru.

Curriculum reforms, university education reforms and elimination of examination fees are some of the key milestones the Ministry of Education has undertaken.

The head of State said the net effect of these efforts was improved academic performance.

“It means that the children of Kathigiri Primary School – a public primary school in Meru – had a mean score of 404 this year, to claim sixth position nationwide.”

Uhuru attributed the good performance to sector reforms.

“We have restored the credibility of our exams. We have made education the great equaliser by removing exam fees; by providing digital learning devices and by reviving our technical and vocational training,” he said.