Lenana School has invited applications from qualified 2017 KCPE candidates who wish to be day-scholars at the school from January.
Principal William Kemei said this is in line with an Education ministry directive for selected national schools within the city to open day-wing classes at their institutions.
The directive is meant to boost admission by delinking the capping of admission to bed capacity as the government seeks to increase form one admission to over one million when free day secondary education is rolled out from January.
Lenana School is among 19 select schools that have been identified by the ministry to offer day-wing classes. Others are Nairobi School, St Georges, Moi Girls and Kenya High.
“We were given 45 slots. There are so many who have already applied even before we put out the notice,” Kemei told the Star on Saturday.
The applications forms can be obtained free of charge from Lenana school main gate as from December 15 and the duly completed forms returned by Tuesday, December 19.
The 45 positions are open to any student who scored 380 marks and above in the 2017 KCPE exam.
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Applicants must be residents of the city who reside from Dagoretti, Westlands, Kibra and Lang’ata sub-counties or any other accessible area within Nairobi County.
Kemei however said some of the students who have already applied have scored above 400 marks and those with fewer marks might miss out on the few available chances.
“Looking at the catchment area, we based on the cut-off points in Nairobi and the respective sub-counties within, that is what guided that mark (380),” Kemei said.
He said applications from students who come from outside the catchment areas will not be considered as that will be against the ministry’s directive.
“The guidelines are that he (student) must be coming from within reach of the school. Being a day wing, it has to be within an area where a child can go home without any hitches in travel,” Kemei said.
He said disabled students are free to apply provided they can conveniently access the school.
Lenana School is one of the national schools that integrate special needs students.
“I don’t think there is any challenge because even now we have a student who is disabled,” Kemei said.
The Education ministry announced that all the 993,718 candidates who sat this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education are expected to join Form One.
The number represents a 25 per cent increase in last year’s admissions of slightly above 790,680 who got secondary school admissions.
The introduction of day wings in boarding schools has been restricted to Nairobi in the pilot phase before being introduced to other counties.
Some Sh25 billion has been allocated to cater for the free secondary education programme next year.
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