High Court declines to stop Form One selection
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu.
The Form One selection process will continue despite complaints from learners and parents over glaring errors in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results.
The High Court on Wednesday declined to stop the exercise pending the hearing and determination of cases challenging the integrity of the recently released KCPE results.
The Ministry of Education will therefore proceed with the placement of students in secondary schools based on the results announced last week by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu.
The cases were filed by Benjamin Magare Gikenyi, a Nakuru-based doctor, and two parents on behalf of their children who sat the exams at Kitengela International School and Set Greenhill Academy Mixed Day and Boarding and Junior School.
Milimani High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi has fixed 7 February 2024 for the mention of the case for directions. This will be long after the selection process has been completed and the Form One learners have reported to their respective schools. The cases were filed under a certificate of urgency.
“Having read the Certificate of Urgency filed herein, together with the Notice of Motion Application dated November 25, 2023 and the attached affidavit in support and annexures, I hereby direct that: the application together with the petition be served within 14 days, responses to the application and the petition be filed and served within 14 days thereafter. Leave is granted to the applicant to file and serve a rejoinder within 14 days from the date of receipt of responses (if need be). Mention on 07/02/2024 for further directions,” reads the court order.
Lawyer Danstan Omari, who is handling the cases of Kitengela and Set Green Hill Primary School in Kisii, had on November 28, 2023 written to the Deputy Registrar of the High Court seeking the court's urgent intervention to give directions in the case, saying the learners were worried.
Grading system
The parents, namely Pius Kiio and Everlyn Kemuma Omwoyo, challenged the results released on Thursday last week, saying there were errors in the grading system.
They said if the Form One selection process, which started on November 27, 2023, continues, the pupils will be denied justice and may miss out on the secondary school of their choice if the review is done in their favour.
Mr Kiio of Kitengela International School, who is representing his child, said the school had produced good results for the past three years and it was difficult to understand how this year's results could have been different. Through his lawyer Omari, Kiio said the 2023 results were "not within a reasonable range".
During the release of the KCPE results on November 23, 2023, Mr Machogu announced that the selection exercise would commence on November 27, 2023, and would last for two weeks.
Form One placement
"We filed an application dated November 27, 2023, under a Certificate of Urgency seeking temporary orders suspending the Form One placement exercise pending the hearing and determination of the petitioners’/Applicants’ concerns which stem from the recently released Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) 2023 results. Your office will appreciate that the matter is of national concern and the urgency of the same cannot be possibly emphasized enough in this letter," Omari stated in the correspondence.
"Despite the fact that the matter was actioned to honourable Mugambi on November 27, 2023, for directions on the same day, the same is yet to be given. That is delayed justice in view of the subject matter of the petition. The future of the Kenyan child is pegged on the decision of the court on this matter as the children need to progress to their next stage in the education system. Therefore, we request for your intervention in the said matters before the court for appropriate directions to be made," the lawyer told the registrar.
