Government achieves almost 100 percent transition from primary to secondary school

Students at DePaul Austin Junior primary in class reading a newspaper as part of their curriculum. [Silas Otieno, Standard]Caption

Five of the eight regions have either hit or surpassed their targets for the expected number of learners joining Junior Secondary School (JSS) and Form One, the Ministry of Interior has said.

In a statement, the Ministry said a total of 1,263,156 pupils reported to various Junior Secondary Schools while 1,154,246 students transitioned to Form One.

At the same time, 15,874 students enrolled for vocational training.

For Junior Secondary Schools, Nyanza achieved 102 per cent transition followed by Central Kenya and North Eastern, each at 101 percent rates.

Nairobi and Eastern recorded a perfect 100 percent transition each, while Coast, Western Kenya, and the Rift Valley achieved 99, 97, and 95 percent reporting rates respectively.

For transition to High School, North Eastern managed 100 percent transition while Nairobi and Central each recorded 99 percent transition rates.

Following closely are Western, Nyanza and Coast, each of which has achieved 98 percent Form One enrollments, while Rift Valley is at 92 percent.

"The 100 percent transition policy was introduced by the government in a deliberate effort to bridge the gap in education, especially for marginalized and underprivileged children.

"Enforcement of the policy was assigned to government administrators, who command an expansive network of influence and knowledge of the grassroots social structures," reads the report by the Ministry of Interior.