Students who sat their 2020 KCPE exam will on Tuesday know which secondary schools they have been admitted to.
Parents will have about a month to prepare for their children's admission set to begin on July 26 when schools reopen for the 2021 calendar year.
After placement, parents dissatisfied with the choice provided by the Education ministry will have an opportunity to seek transfers.
The transfer process will be done through the ministry's student portal, Nemis.
Since 2017, a computerised system has been used to aid the placement of candidates to secondary schools.
The Form 1 selection exercise happened in June following the closure of schools in March 2020 to stem the Covid-19 pandemic. The closure delayed the school calendar and the administration of the 2020 KCPE exam.
Kenya Parents Association chairman Nicholas Maiyo faulted the government for the short notice between the placement and admission date. He argued that parents will not get enough time to prepare.
All the 8,091 candidates who scored 400 marks and above will be admitted to national schools. This is in addition to the top five candidates in each subcounty.
The selection of candidates to national and extra-county schools will be on the basis of merit, their choice of school and the capacity of respective schools.
Sources indicate that national schools will this year admit 40,000 students, another 190,000 slots have been identified in extra-county schools and 200,000 slots in county schools.
Of the over one million candidates who sat the exam, 243,320 scored between 301 and 400 marks. They will occupy places in the extra-county and county schools.
At the subcounty schools, 680,145 slots are available. This means day schools will carry the bulk of the students, with more than half of the 2020 candidates expected to join them.
They include a big share of the 586,886 candidates who scored between 201 and 300 marks and 262,307 who got between 101 and 200 marks.
100 per cent transition
In May, Magoha promised every candidate will get a place in secondary school.
“We are determined to work with relevant agencies to ensure no candidate misses a place in secondary school," he said.
This will push the number of the secondary school population from the current 2.8 million to about 3.2 million.
The institutions will also be grappling with the management of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has necessitated a rethinking of spacing at learning institutions.
