Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba during a past event.
Concern is mounting among parents and teachers over delays by the Ministry of Education in announcing this year's senior school selection exercise for Grade 9 learners, raising fears that the process could be affected by a busy school calendar.
Last year, the exercise for the first cohort under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) began on June 8 and ran until June 30. During the exercise, learners selected their preferred career pathways, subject combinations and 12 preferred senior schools through an online portal.
With schools set to close for the August holiday on July 31 2026, teachers say they are yet to receive any communication from the Ministry of Education or access to the selection portal.
"We are concerned about this silence given that Term Two is ending on July 31 and the portal is yet to be opened," said a teacher who requested anonymity.
School heads also say they are increasingly under pressure from parents seeking information on the exercise.
"Parents keep asking us when the selection will begin, but we have no answers. We are only hearing that there are plans to cap the number of learners admitted to some schools to address challenges experienced during last year's placement," said a head teacher.
About 1.2 million Grade 9 learners, who form the second cohort under CBE, are expected to select career pathways, subject combinations and preferred senior schools through the ministry's automated placement system.
Efforts to obtain a response from the State Department for Basic Education were unsuccessful, as calls and text messages to officials went unanswered.
The learners will choose from three career pathways, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Social Sciences, as well as Arts and Sports Science.
Before the selection exercise begins, public senior schools are required to upload the subject combinations they will offer in 2027 to enable learners to make informed choices.
Last year, the ministry directed junior schools to guide learners through the process using the online platform, selection.education.go.ke.
In a circular issued at the time, then Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok instructed regional, county and sub-county directors of education on the implementation of the exercise.
Senior school principals were required to log into the portal using their institutions' Unique Identification Code (UIC), declare their Grade 10 capacity and upload subject combinations for at least two career pathways. Every school was required to offer STEM, while each subject combination was expected to accommodate a minimum of 15 learners.
At senior school, learners will study seven subjects where Mathematics, English, Kiswahili and Community Service Learning are compulsory, while the remaining subjects will be selected based on the learner's chosen pathway and career interests.
Placement into senior school, which will happen after the release of Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) results, will be determined by learners' career preferences, interests and academic performance.
The placement criteria also consider cumulative assessment scores from Grades 6, 7 and 9, including both formative and summative assessments, culminating in the KJSEA.
Learners will be expected to select 12 schools including four under their first-choice pathway, four under the second-choice pathway and four under the third-choice pathway.
Of the 12 schools, nine should be boarding schools, including three within the learner's home county and six outside the county.
Senior schools are designated either as Triple Pathway Schools, offering all three pathways, or Dual Pathway Schools, offering STEM alongside either Social Sciences or Arts and Sports Science.
The delay comes after last year's inaugural placement exercise encountered several challenges.
The Ministry of Education released the first Grade 10 placement results on December 19, 2025, before opening a review window from December 23 to December 29 to allow learners to appeal their placement or career pathway.
However, confusion emerged on December 30 when some parents who logged into the placement portal found that their children's admission letters reflected different schools from those initially allocated.
The changes affected even some learners who had not applied for a review, raising concerns over the integrity and reliability of the placement system.
It later emerged that there was a clamour for placements in some 20 Cluster 1 (formerly national schools), which caused frustration among learners and their parents.
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