• Changes will include giving priority to learners with higher marks and those in areas mapped for affirmative action.
• Candidates will not have a chance to transfer to another secondary school other than the one they will be placed after the placement exercise in January.
Candidates sitting this year's KCPE examinations will not be able to change schools after receiving admission letters in January.
In new guidelines from the Ministry of Education, candidates will make the final decision on secondary schools they wish to join during the second term.
The government requires learners to choose 11 schools in the selection process.
The schools include four national schools, four from the extra-county pool, two from the county pool and a day school.
It is the schools that they will have selected in the review that will guide where the learners will be placed after the release of the KCPE results.
"The government will ensure the learners get a spot in one of the 11 schools they indicate interest in joining," Basic Education Principal Secretary BelioKipsang said yesterday.
Kipsang yesterday said this year's candidates have until the end of July to carry out the review.
"Having been in class 8 for two terms parents can now assess their children capability and help them make informed decisions. There will be no more requests to change schools in January," Kipsang said in Nairobi.
Under the guidelines, principals will not be able to directly hand admissions to students not placed in their schools through Nemis.
This breaks the tradition where learners had a chance to switch secondary schools they had been invited to join or after the placement exercise.
This is one of a raft of measures Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha announced yesterday to reform the troubled Form 1 selection and admission exercise.
The changes will also include giving priority to learners with higher marks and those in areas mapped for affirmative action.
"Last year there were learners with higher marks from similar schools missing out on opportunities to secure school entry of their choice while those with lower marks secured admission. That will not happen on my watch," Magoha said.
The CS was speaking during a meeting with ministry officials and regional directors of education to discuss this year's examination preparedness.
Knec chief executive officer Mercy Karogo said a total of 1,788,731 candidates will sit the KCPE and KCSE examinations.
Of these, 1,088,986 will sit the KCPE while 699,745 will sit the KCSE.
KCPE will start on October 28 and end on October 31 while KCSE is scheduled for November 4, to November 27.
Curb cheating
With three months before the start of the national tests, Magoha yesterday announced that the government had increased the number of examinations containers to 479 from last year’s 459.
This he says will shorten the distance in moving the exam material that exposed the materials to the unscrupulous individuals.
Support staff who provide necessary services at examination centres such as catering and security will also be required to register their credentials at the start of the national examinations.
Centre managers will also be required to make prior arrangements with health facilities contracted under the secondary school insurance scheme with NHIF to ensure emergency services are available to schools during the period of the examinations.
(Edited by O. Owino)