Private schools call for fairness in Form One selection

Education CS Ezekiel Machogu. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA) has asked the government to ensure fairness in Form One selection.

The association's vice chairman Solomon Munene said the selection should be guided by performance of candidates in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams.

"The government should reward hard work and let all candidates join secondary schools of their choice as per their performance," said Munene.

He added: "All candidates are Kenyan children and it is our belief that the Form One selection will be fair to all. Private schools are keenly watching."

Munene asked the Ministry of Education to consider including private secondary schools in Form One selection and placement.

"Private secondary schools struggle to get Form One students because they are excluded from the process of selection. This is unfair because private secondary schools have invested a lot in infrastructure and learning materials and yet their facilities are greatly underutilized," Munene said.

He said the government, and indeed all stakeholders should support private schools in the spirit of public-private partnership, saying this will also help in decongesting public secondary schools.

"We also request the government to consider extending capitation to students in private secondary schools like their peers in public secondary schools," Munene said.

He said support from the national government would attract parents to private secondary schools and consequently ease the congestion in public secondary schools.