CS Amina begins school tours to monitor Form One intake

Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed at Kiamaina Primary School in Bahati, Nakuru County, yesterday. She announced that this year's Form One transition rate was the highest in history. [Harun Wathari, Standard]

Eight in every ten pupils who sat last year's Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination have been admitted to Form One.

From the 1,052,364 KCPE candidates, 873,462 have proceeded to secondary school translating to 83 per cent transition rate.

However, 178,902 are yet to be admitted. The Ministry of Education hopes to have all the students admitted by the end of this month in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive.

Highest transition

“The transition is the highest in Kenya's history. We are working round-the-clock to guarantee the expected 100 per cent by the end of this month,” said Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed

The CS said in some schools all the candidates who sat the exam had joined secondary school.

She said the ministry had directed school management committees to set aside some of the funds allocated per student to expand infrastructure. The ministry allocates at least Sh6,000 to each learner in secondary day schools per year for infrastructure development.

“Some adjustments will be done, for example there are some schools with higher enrollment whose infrastructure challenges will be looked into,” said the CS.

According to the CS, at least 19 students with special needs have been integrated in national schools.

She attributed high enrollment to the National Education Management Information System (Nemis), a digital platform system that was used in Form One selection.

The system ensured all learners joined the schools they had been admitted to, and that those who had alternatives were also documented.

Through the system, at least 107,000 learners were slotted in schools of their choice.

It also ensured that all the students were enrolled in the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

“There is need to make sure all children who transition to secondary school receive medical cover, and Nemis has helped us ensure that the numbers being handed over to NHIF are real figures,” she said.

However, she admitted that the system had been slow in some areas and promised that this was being addressed.

Amina spoke at St Mary’s Girls Primary School in Nakuru where she monitored the distribution of textbooks and implementation of the new curriculum. She said the implementation of the new curriculum was on course and the bulk of instruction material had been supplied to schools by January 15.

She also visited Afraha Secondary School that has enrolled 216 Form One students out of the expected 300.

The CS also visited Kiamaina Primary School in Bahati sub-county where she promised to help improve sanitation facilities to address high enrollment. The school has 2,350 pupils.