Top candidates in KCPE exams get schools of choice
Cabinet Secretary for Education Ezekiel Machogu when he appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Education at County Hall Nairobi on December 7, 2023.
All the 1.4 million 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination candidates have been placed in public secondary schools as per the government’s 100 per cent transition policy.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu said all the students were placed in national, special needs education, extra county, county and sub-county schools.
Data from the Ministry of Education shows that a majority of the students will join sub-county secondary schools.
A total of 792,230 students who sat the exams were selected to join this category of schools.
This population is followed by county schools that will accommodate 288,201 students, extra county schools (274,746) and national schools (42,927).
Some 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,” said Mr Machogu.
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.
Mr Machogu said the selection and placement exercise was strictly guided by the principles of merit, choice, equity, affirmative action, and availability of space.
In the placement, 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,” said the CS.
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,” Mr Machogu said.
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.
Kabianga, Nanyuki, Kapsabet, Maseno, Nakuru, Man'gu and Alliance are the most sought after boys secondary schools in the country while Pangani, Alliance and Butere are the most popular among girls.
Pangani Girls was the most sought after secondary school among the 2023 KCPE female candidates, with 144, 542 seeking placement in the giant national school.
However, only 384 girls have been placed in the Nairobi-based school.
Others were Alliance and Butere Girls high schools.
According to data from the Ministry of Education, some 135, 033 girls wanted to join Alliance Girls High School while 114, 635 picked Butere Girls High School.
However, only 384 and 480 were placed in the two national schools respectively.
Nanyuki High School had 158,741 applications against a capacity of 480, Kapsabet Boys had 143, 723 applications but 432 got places while Maseno School had 123, 777 but 672 were selected.
Some 115, 513 boys showed interest in joining Nakuru High School, but only 480 were picked.
The data also shows that Mangu High School had 112, 938 applications but only 480 were picked while Alliance High School had 110, 839 applying for a slot but 384 managed to get space.
For two consecutive years, Kabianga School, whose motto is ‘Soaring on God’s eagle wings’, has emerged among the most popular boys national schools.
“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,” said the CS.
Mr Machogu said candidates were placed in schools largely based on merit and choice.
