The clarification was provided to parents Saturday by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba.
He said the two institutions ruled they did not meet the admission criteria after reviewing the placement lists submitted by the ministry. This means parents whose children lost their slots at the schools will have to come to terms with the outcome as it's not reversible.
Anxiety began to mount when parents, who had been eagerly awaiting their children’s admission at the prestigious institutions, discovered the Grade 10 students were reassigned to different senior schools at the last minute.
CS Ogamba has now confirmed the transfers, stating that a total of 632 learners affected have since been reassigned to Cluster 1 (C1) schools they had selected as alternative choices.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
The CS explained that Starehe Boys Centre and Starehe Girls’ Centre formally requested placement lists from the Ministry for verification, given their long-standing categorisation as post-select schools.
“Upon comparison of the Ministry’s placement list and the schools’ internal selection criteria, it was established that only 81 boys and 61 girls met institutional criteria,” he said.
He noted that consequently, Starehe Boys returned 317 learners and Starehe Girls returned 315 learners to the Ministry for alternative placement.
“The affected 632 learners were therefore placed in Cluster 1 (C1) schools that they had selected as alternative choices, in alignment with their preferences,” said CS Ogamba in a statement.
Anxious parents, disappointed learners
A group of parents outside Starehe Boys Centre and School on January 2, 2025 where they had gone to seek clarity on the admission of their children for Grade 10.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
Over the past few days, hundreds of anxious parents have been turned away at the gates of the two institutions after their children’s names could not be traced on the schools admission list.
Only parents carrying the school’s admission letter were allowed in to access the administration block, after their children’s names were verified against a list at the gate.
A parent, whose child had scored 70 points in the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) and had been placed at Starehe Boys, was dismayed to learn that their child had been moved to Kagumo High School in Nyeri, despite not requesting for a review.
Another parent, whose child had scored 71 points and had been placed at Starehe Boys, was equally shocked to find that their child had been reassigned to Moi High Mbururi in Embu.
Most of the parents said they relaxed when the initial results showed their children had been placed at Starehe as that was their first choice, only to discover later that they had lost the slots.
“The next time I visited the portal, I was stunned by what it showed. The problem is that my child’s mind was set for Starehe,” said the parent whose name was missing from the admission list that security guards had at the entrance of Starehe Boys Centre.
A similar script played out at Starehe Girls’Centre. A parent whose child scored 72 points in KJSEA and was initially placed at Starehe Girls was stunned to find that their child had now been placed at a local day school.
The parents’ attempts to reach the sub-county Director of Education proved futile as she was told that they (sub-county office) were incapable of handling the Starehe issue as it operates like a private entity.
Starehe Girls has since issued a statement saying it successfully concluded the selection process for the 2026 senior school intake on 28 December 2025, selecting 400 girls to join Grade 10.
“The Trustees and management of Starehe Girls Centre regret the confusion that arose due to the earlier allocation of students without following this process, but this has now been resolved,” the school's management said in a statement.
Both Starehe Boys and Starehe Girls Centres operate under specific admission policies, which include a 70:30 ratio, with 70 percent of learners from economically disadvantaged backgrounds receiving full sponsorship, and 30 percent being self-sponsored.
The centres rely on the Yellow Form for Starehe Boys and the Blue Form for Starehe Girls to assess the financial needs of applicants.
