Shock as Grade 9 students reject 5,000 senior schools

Kakamega Little Lillies school students showcase their skills during school career day on April 2, 2025. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard] Shocking details have emerged revealing that more than half of senior secondary schools, some 5,000 institutions, were not selected even by a single student for admission in the upcoming January transition. On Thursday, Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok revealed that out of 9,750 schools listed for transition from Junior Secondary to Senior School, 5,000 have been completely ignored by all learners. Most of the rejected schools are day schools. This means students have only shown interest in joining 4,250 schools nationwide in the selection exercise that ended on July 15. The revelations now raise fears of students being placed in institutions they did not show any interest in during the selection exercise. And now, the Ministry of Education has called the situation a national crisis that requires urgent attention, with Prof Bitok proposing a national dialogue to address the selection crisis. "We are going to have a national conversation so that we ask ourselves, really, if there are more than 5,000 schools which have not been selected by anybody, what can we do as a country so that we can be able to optimise these schools? Because these schools also require investment, they require teachers, they require many other things," Bitok said. The PS spoke during the launch of the 'Citizens of the Future Education Summit' held in Nairobi on Thursday. But that is not all. It also emerged that top-performing students in the Grade 9 exit exams are set to compete for places in a limited number of top-ranking schools, opening further fears of a return to cutthroat competition in the race to join senior schools. Bitok said that each of the national schools, now referred to as Cluster One institutions, will admit the top students from each sub-county. He said that all former national schools will be required to admit students from all 398 sub-counties, essentially reserving space for top learners from every region. There are currently 205 national schools. "All the former national schools will get the first of any student for Grade 10," Bitok said. The revelation has sparked debate over the return of fierce competition for places in the top schools, the ones with better infrastructure, resources, and historical prestige. Despite the skewed preference, the PS insists all students will be placed. Kakamega Little Lillies school students showcase their skills during school career day on April 2, 2025. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard] "We have enough space for all the learners. And the first preference is for the learner to choose where they want to go to school. And we have a system which is able to select," he added. Under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), secondary schools have been divided into four clusters. Former national schools form the Cluster One category, extra-county schools will be Cluster Two, county schools are now Cluster Three, while day schools will be Cluster Four. Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman Willy Kuria said the selection outcome is not a surprise, as most students mainly focus on the top renowned schools. He challenged the government to ensure all schools have top-notch facilities to attract students at the same level as national schools. "Disparity in resources and infrastructure is a big contributor to the inequality in secondary schools. Students tend to lean on the top and well-resourced schools and shun the dilapidated schools in their neighbourhood," Kuria said. Kuria, however, argues that the reality is that most of the students will be placed in the institutions that they are rejecting. "About 70 per cent of our students attend those day schools they are rejecting, and come January, these institutions will admit the most number of students. That is the reality. So the government should look into bettering these institutions," Kuria said. Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Secretary General Akello Misori termed the outcome of the selection as shocking and an eye-opener at the same time. Misori called on the government to address the poor state of day secondary schools in the country. Janet Muthoni, an education lobbyist, also raised concern about the return to cutthroat competition in the scramble for schools with state-of-the-art resources.

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