A cloud of anxiety and confusion settled over 1.13 million inaugural candidates of the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) and their parents who spent hours since Friday morning in a long waiting game for the Ministry of Education to release senior school placements results.
On Wednesday, the Principal Secretary for Basic Education Prof Julius Bitok announced that the results would be released on Friday and even gave an SMS code which candidate could use to access their results.
However, by late Friday night, the designated SMS short code 22263 became a source of both hope and financial pain while Prof Bitok did not pick up our calls as we sought to find the cause of the delay.
“Dear learner, the placement results for Grade 10 senior school are in progress, you will be informed when ready for checking. Thank you,” read the texts seen by the Daily Nation .
While speaking to the Daily Nation , Prof Bitok said the placement of learners to senior school had already been completed, with the delay in accessing results caused by a technical system maintenance issue linked to integration with a mobile phone service provider.
“The results have come out. The placement has been done. We are only working on the integration with Safaricom. The ministry is finalising the process and parents would begin receiving placement information within hours. However, placements for learners in special needs schools were already being released,” he told the Daily Nation .
Earlier there were concerns that the message also came at a steep price, with each text costing Sh30. Some parents reported having sent multiple queries out of desperation.
Addressing concerns from parents who say they have been sending SMS messages without receiving feedback, the PS dismissed claims that charges applied before results were sent.
“The messages are not going through, and if you are not getting any result, your money is not being deducted. You are not being charged, the charges only apply once a placement message has been successfully delivered,” he said.
On the window for revisions, the PS said parents would not be issued with a separate list of schools with available spaces.
Principal Secretary for Basic Education Prof Julius Bitok.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
“When you go to the system, you will see the schools that are open, and you can now apply through your junior school. Learners would be allowed to revise their choices based on pathways, including switching from STEM to social sciences,” he said.
Head teachers and their deputies who had trooped to their learning institutions to help the anxious parents expressed their frustration.
“Imagine if the over one million parents of the graduates sent the text how much has the network provider earned? That is a cool Sh33 million and nothing to show for it,” said a teacher.
While presiding over the 58th Kenyatta University graduation ceremony, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba assured the nation that the wait was over. Mr Ogamba announced that the learners would know their places in senior school by noon.
“These students who are being transitioned to Grade 10 by January 2026 are being placed today. And by noon today they will start checking to know which schools they are going to. They are due to transition to our universities in 2029,” said Mr Ogamba.
Mr Ogamba told the Daily Nation that a team at the MoE was working to align with the mobile phone service provider to have the results released.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
The National Parents Association called for patience but demanded transparency. Chairperson Silas Obuhatsa emphasised that while parents are anxious, the government must ensure the automated system reflects the true merits and pathway choices of the learners.
“We are asking the government to ensure fairness so that all children can be allocated the schools they deserve based on their pathways and performance,” Mr Obuhatsa stated.
He also reminded parents that once they knew where their children had been placed, a window would be opened to revise pathways and schools.
This, he said is particularly crucial for learners who may find themselves placed in pathways that do not align with their long-term career aspirations.
The Ministry has yet to issue an official statement on the cause of the delay. The lack of feedback heightened frustration, with parents questioning whether the system was experiencing technical challenges or if the placement results had yet to be uploaded.
With the reporting date set for January 12, 2026, parents have less than a month to find school fees, purchase uniforms, and prepare for the most significant educational shift in a generation.
“I have sent the message several times since morning, but there is no feedback. We do not know whether the system is down or the results are not yet uploaded,” said Mary Okoth a parent in Nairobi.
The placement marks the transition of the first cohort of learners from junior school to senior secondary school under CBE, with learners expected to report to senior schools in January.
“This new generation of students will arrive at universities with different skills, expectations and a stronger proficiency in practical application and critical thinking shaped by the competency-based curriculum,” said Mr Ogamba.
Beyond the delay, concerns have also been raised about the criteria being used to place learners into senior secondary schools. Under the new system, learners are expected to be placed into three pathways—STEM, Social Sciences, and Arts and Sports Science—with each pathway further divided into clusters.
However, parents say the Ministry has not clearly explained how learners are matched to specific pathways, how clusters are determined, or how many learners are allocated to each category.
There also questions over equity in the distribution of learners, particularly amid fears that some pathways and clusters may have limited capacity compared to demand. Parents are seeking assurances that learners will not being unfairly locked out of preferred pathways due to space constraints or opaque decision-making.
The Deputy Headteacher of Sparki Primary School, Bakari Ali (sitting) with Grade 9 parents who had come to seek KEMIS Registration numbers of their children to apply for scholarships on December 17, 2025 ahead of senior school placement exercise.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group.
Further confusion surrounds the Ministry’s announcement that dissatisfied candidates will be allowed a seven-day window to reapply for placement. Parents are asking whether the Ministry will publish a list of senior schools with available spaces to guide the reapplication process, noting that without such information, the exercise could disadvantage those without access to timely or accurate guidance.
“To ensure fairness in placement across the country. We have adopted the CRA formula of revenue allocation to be able to distribute as fairly as possible students from across all counties in all the four categories of schools so that a child from Northern Kenya can be able to access or get an opportunity, same as a child in maybe Western, to join a school in Nairobi or any part of the country,” said Prof Bitok.
Learners will be placed in secondary schools using a new formula that takes several key factors into account to ensure fairness and efficiency. Under the formula, 42 per cent of the placement consideration is based on county population, allowing larger counties to receive a proportionate number of slots.
Learner performance contributes 22 per cent, reflecting academic results such as KCSE scores to place students according to merit.
Poverty levels account for 14 per cent, ensuring that learners from marginalized or economically disadvantaged areas are given support. Distance to school makes up 13 per cent, reducing travel barriers and promoting accessibility.
Finally, school size and infrastructure contribute 9 per cent, helping to match students to schools that have adequate facilities to accommodate them.
