Magoha issues Form One selection rules
Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha yesterday assured integrity in Form One placement. He said the selection criteria will take into account affirmative action and geographical distribution.
The process is already underway and will see learners who sat the 2021 KCPE examination placed in national, extra county, county and sub-county schools.
Geographical distribution
“Affirmative action will take into account the geographical distribution of this country. Children from the northern region must be represented in national schools. To do that, God and the government have given us the powers to be fair,” said Magoha.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Surgical Society of Kenya conference in Mombasa, Magoha said the selection criteria will not discriminate against well-performing students, especially those in slums and arid and semi-arid areas.
“We will ensure that all children are given equal, fair and just treatment, including children in the slums and those in far-flung arid and semi-arid areas where we have always had affirmative action”, said the CS.
He added that all the 1.2 million candidates who sat the examination would be placed in the secondary schools they chose, if possible. “Where the chances are limited, merit will prevail.”
Some 11,857 candidates scored 400 and above, 315,275 had 300-399 marks, another 578,197 had 200-299 marks, 307,532 had100-199 marks while 1,170 had between 0-99 marks.
They are all expected to join secondary schools under the 100 per cent transition policy. “We will place you where you belong in terms of your selection. There will be no interference at all,” he added.
Students picked 11 schools of their choice — four national, three extra-county, two county and two sub-county schools. They will know the schools they have been placed in two weeks.
Create junior schools
As the country prepares to usher in Grade 7 under the new curriculum, the CS challenged private schools to create junior secondary schools to ease the burden on the government.
“Private owners of schools should not always look at the profit margin. They should create stand-alone junior secondary schools to reduce the pressure on us,” said Magoha.
He disclosed that secondary school games could resume next term owing to relaxation of Covid rules.
“I will consult the Health minister and, most likely, as we open for the new year, we could relax that aspect,” he said Magoha.
He said those who attempt to breach exam integrity in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) will be punished.
KCSE exams end tomorrow.
