Why Education Ministry wants 1,000 senior schools upgraded to national status

 Students at Nakuru city reporting back to their varoius school after schools. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

The Ministry of Education is considering a major overhaul of  senior secondary schools that could see more than 1,000 institutions upgraded to national school status amid low student enrolment across the country.

The Saturday Standard has established that the plan seeks to ensure that every administrative ward has at least one senior secondary school of national status. 

With a total of 1,450 wards, the move would increase the number of C1 (national) senior secondary schools from the current 103 to about 1,450.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said the proposal has been driven by weak interest from learners in some institutions, particularly day senior secondary schools classified as C4.

“We are awaiting reports from principals on the reporting rates, but we have already witnessed low numbers in some C4 schools. This was expected because some of these institutions were not chosen by any candidate at all during the selection process, so we have to decide what to do with them,” Ogamba said yesterday.

In October, the Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok announced that some senior secondary schools had not been selected by any student during the exercise conducted in second term.

Ogamba said some of the under-enrolled schools could be repurposed, while others may be upgraded to national status as part of a broader effort to balance access, attractiveness and enrolment across the country.

The development comes as the government’s 100 per cent transition policy faces its toughest test yet under the Competency-Based Education (CBE).

Preliminary data from the ministry portal shows that fewer than half of the 1.1 million learners expected to join senior school have so far reported.

Ogamba said the ministry is still awaiting official data from school heads, which will guide its next steps, including whether to extend the reporting deadline.

The unfolding situation has raised fresh questions about school placement, learner preferences and the readiness of institutions as the CBE enters a critical phase in its rollout.

The delays have now pushed the Ministry of Education to consider extending the admission period to allow more learners to report. 

“We are thinking about extending the deadline a little bit to allow those who come late to report,” Bitok said on Thursday while visiting Alliance High School to monitor the admission exercise.

He added that schools have been instructed to continue admitting learners over the weekend.

The 100 per cent transition policy was introduced in 2018 to ensure that all learners move smoothly through the 12 years of basic education. 

Under previous administrations, the ministry carried out mop-up exercises, where officials physically traced learners who had not reported and took them to school.

In 2019, the ministry reported a 97 per cent transition rate after admitting most of the 2018 KCPE candidates. 

However, the success of the policy has since been questioned after data showed that many learners who were admitted into secondary school did not complete their education.

Figures from the Kenya National Examinations Council show that in the 2019 KCPE group, 1,083,456 candidates joined secondary school in 2020 yet only 903,260 sat KCSE this year. 

The government has not fully accounted for those who dropped out, with a similar trend observed in the subsequent years.

Education officials say the slow reporting for Grade 10 is mainly due to parents delaying admission as they wait to change schools. Some parents are also hoping to secure places in preferred schools once unfilled slots become available.

Ogamba said the low numbers on the portal may not reflect the true situation on the ground, noting that some school heads have delayed uploading admission data due to network challenges.

“The number of learners in school could be higher than what is shown on the portal. We will have a clearer picture by Monday,” the Cabinet Secretary said.

Even as the ministry remains confident that all learners will eventually report, the slow pace of admissions, past dropout trends and ongoing revisions have highlighted the growing strain on the 100 per cent transition policy under the CBE system.

Meanwhile, Bitok has warned that stern action will be taken against school principals who will be found culpable of increasing or asking for illegal school fees.

Bitok warned that no head teacher will be allowed to add any levy or levies for any student seeking to join grade 10, a move he termed as illegal and will attract penalties, he insisted that fees have not changed.

The Principal Secretary noted that 42 per cent of admissions are in C4 schools and they have also noted that the absorption to C4 is slow.

He said the ministry’s field officers are on the ground to help actualise 100 percent transition.

At Alliance High School, Bitok said that more than 90 per cent of students had already joined Grade 10 and he expressed optimism that the remaining will have done so by tomorrow, terming Alliance school placement as a classic example of the transition success.

At Moi Girls Kamangu, where Bitok had a chance to engage students in Grade 10, he told them that the Ministry of Education is looking forward to giving them all the necessary support.

“We shall make sure that you get the best and you are already in a good learning environment. The government has invested in laboratories and classrooms,” Bitok said.