Education Ministry rejects 68,000 Grade 10 placement appeals

About 68,000 learners who had requested a revision of their senior school placements will have to reapply after their requests were rejected.

Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok says learners who are satisfied with their placements will begin accessing their senior school admission letters from December 28.

Those dissatisfied with their placements will be given a second opportunity to revise their choices in the first week of January.

The seven-day window for parents and learners to revise their school and pathway selections for senior school placement is coming to an end. More than 343,000 learners responded to the ministry’s call to revise their choices, with some succeeding while others did not.

"Out of the 183,000 applications that have been processed, 116,000 have been approved while 66,000 have been declined," stated Bitok.

The ministry says most of the rejected requests came from learners seeking placement in Category One schools, formerly national or top-tier schools. There are 262 senior schools in this category across the country.

"One thing we have noted with this revision is that there are a few schools attracting thousands of learners. Some are targeting only about 20 schools with a combined capacity of around 500 learners. I want to call upon Kenyans to move away from the old thinking that only a few schools are good schools. Under competency-based education, we are investing across the country so that all schools in Kenya can attract learners equally," Bitok said.

Learners will begin accessing and downloading their admission letters next week once the first phase of the revision ends. The ministry says the revision process was meant to allow learners to re-evaluate their pathway choices based on their performance in the KJSEA. While some have done so, most of the requests have focused on school choices rather than pathways.

Learners will be given another opportunity to revise their selections after the first phase ends.

"We are thinking of opening it up again in January to enable those who have been unsuccessful to give it another chance," he added.

The placement and review process is aimed at addressing cases where learners feel they have been placed in schools they are uncomfortable with or in pathways that do not align with their abilities.

The government says it is keen to ensure the process is fair and transparent, especially since this is the first time the country is conducting a fully digital senior school placement exercise.