Intense lobbying, agony for parents as pupils scramble for top schools

Western Region Secondary school head teachers follow proceedings during form one selections at Kakamega High school on December 8, 2017. (Photo: Benjamin Sakwa)

Parents and pupils are undergoing untold pain as the rush to access good schools takes toll on them, with the Form One selection deadline fast approaching.

Some pupils who posted top grades have also rejected schools they have been placed in, faulting the process for locking them out of their dream institutions.

Behind the formal Ministry of Education selection criteria, intense lobbying, kickbacks and unfulfilled promises have hit parents as some struggle to escape the formal process.

The Saturday Standard has established that most parents are looking for slots in the traditional 19 national schools, ignoring the other 86 top institutions elevated to national status.

There are about 105 national schools today. The parents focus has turned on the traditional national schools that have dominated best performance for several years.

These are Starehe Boys, Starehe Girls, Alliance High, Alliance Girls, Lenana School, Kenya High, Maryhill Girls, Loreto Limuru, Limuru Girls, Mangu High, Maseno School, Nairobi School, Moi Forces Academy, Moi Forces Lanet, Nakuru Girls, Utumishi Academy, Moi Girls Eldoret and Nakuru Boys.

Yesterday, it also emerged that the scramble has gone down to top extra-county and county schools, with parents rejecting most institutions in which their children have been placed.

Some school principals have switched off their phones to avoid bothersome parents.

Parents who spoke yesterday said it is increasingly getting difficult to get a good school if one is dissatisfied with the placement process.

“If you do not know senior Ministry of Education officials you may opt to go to a private school because the selection process may cause agony and suffering in the family,” said a parent.

Another parent who spoke at the corridors of the Ministry of Education help desk, said her child has been placed in Samburu yet she stays in Busia.

“Surely how can this be the case. I will be so far away from my child and even visits to the school will be hard,” she said.

The silent lobbying is so intense that some parents confessed to parting with money to secure good schools.

“My child rejected the school she was placed in. She is my first-born and I also want the best for her. I can part with any amount of money to secure a good school,” said a parent in Nairobi.

Another one said she has been walking with the child’s result slip and knocking at politicians and top government officials’ doors for help.

“I have gone to many officers asking them to use their influence to help me secure a top school,” she said.

Big scramble

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (Kessha) national chairman Kahi Indimuli yesterday termed the scramble for top schools unfortunate, saying curriculum delivery is the same.

“The issue now is that each parent wants the top school. All schools are the same, the difference is levels of infrastructure development,” said Mr Indimuli. He said the top schools exist because some parents participated in the development of those schools to support the government initiative.

“If we mean well for future of all children, parents should take up slots allocated so that they also go and participate in bettering those schools for children to come,” he said.

He said the slots available in the national schools are limited yet a total of 29,411 candidates have already been selected to those schools. Data released by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i shows there are 123,399 slots available in extra-county schools.

Another 142,358 slots are up for grabs in county schools and a total of 685,590 slots available in day schools. Private schools declared 69,880 slots.

Indimuli said some principals have switched off their phones because of the pressure from parents.

“The kind of pressure they are subjected to is too much yet they do not have solutions,” he said.

Matiang’i asked school heads to do the right thing and ignore politicians and other people keen to influence their operations.

“Just do the right thing. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Ministry is fully behind you and we have your back,” Matiang’i said during the launch of Form One selection.

Matiang’i assured all parents that the government will invest in developing infrastructure across all schools

“As a way forward, there will be a deliberate effort to invest proportionate resources to ensure quality education for the learners,” he said.

The CS said these initiatives will include a proportionately higher allocation for infrastructure development and improvement and posting of a higher number of teachers by the TSC to schools. Matiang’i said the government will also supply science equipment to bring the schools at par with other well-endowed schools.

“We will also post principals with proven track records to revive and revamp these key institutions that cater for a bulk of children from low-income backgrounds,” he said.