All the 1.4 million eligible 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination candidates have been placed in public secondary schools as per the government's policy on 100 per cent transition.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu on Monday said all the students have been placed in schools categorized as National, Special Needs Education, Extra County, County and Sub-county.
Under the school categories, data from the Ministry of Education show that a majority of the students will join Sub County high schools.
A total of 792,230 students who sat for the KCPE examinations were selected to join this category of schools.
County schools will admit 288,201, extra county schools 274,746 and national schools 42,927. At the same time, 2,225 students will join special needs education schools across the country.
“During the release of the 2023 KCPE Examination results on November 23, 2023, I assured the country that the government had enough capacity to accommodate all the 1.4 million candidates,” Machogu said.
However, the CS said all overage learners have been forwarded to the Directorate of Adult and Continuing Education for placement in Adult and Continuing Education institutions.
Machogu said the selection and placement exercise was strictly guided by the principles of merit, choice, equity, affirmative action, and availability of space.
All candidates who scored 400 Marks and above were placed in either National or Extra County schools of their choice.
“Similarly, all other candidates were placed in county or sub-county schools, according to the parameters set. Learners with special needs were placed either in regular or Special Needs schools based on their disability categories, merit and choice,” Machogu said.
Mr Machogu said the Ministry has continued to apply affirmative action to cater for the needy and vulnerable children in identified slums and informal settlements in urban areas.
“This is in compliance with the Government’s policy of achieving parity in education. Through affirmative action, we managed to place 130 learners to national and 167 to extra county schools. This comprised 150 girls and 147 boys,” added Mr Machogu.
Besides the affirmative action on needy and vulnerable children, the CS said the placement also considered the Djibouti Declaration of 2017 on Regional Refugee Education and placed learners from primary schools located within the refugee camps.
Meanwhile, Kabianga High School, Nanyuki High School and Pangani Girls' High School are the most sought-after schools by students seeking to join Form One, according to analysis of 2023 placement results.
Pangani Girls' was the most sought-after secondary school among female candidates for the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, with 144,542 seeking places in the giant national school.
However, only 384 girls were placed in the national school in Nairobi city. Other schools most sought after by girls were Alliance and Butere Girls High Schools.
According to the Ministry of Education, some 135,033 girls applied to Alliance Girls High School, while 114,635 chose Butere Girls High School. However, only 384 and 480 girls respectively were placed in the two national schools.
Nanyuki High School had 158,741 applications against a capacity of 480, Kapsabet Boys had 143,723 applications but only 432 were placed, while Maseno School had 123,777 applicants but 672 were selected.
At Nakuru High School, 115,513 boys expressed interest in joining the giant national school but only 480 were selected.
Data shows that Mangu High School had 112,938 applicants but only 480 were selected, while Alliance High School had 110,839 applicants but 384 were selected.
This is the last cohort of KCPE under the 8-4-4 education system, as the introduction of the Competency Based Curriculum will extend to Junior Secondary Grade 8 from next year.
The first cohort of KCPE candidates sat for the exam in 1985, while the final examination was held in 2023.
“As we reflect on the 2024 Form One placement results, it is important to remember that the choices made by the candidates themselves played a significant role in the outcome,” the CS explained.
