• Kenya Private Schools Association says the arrangement would reduce congestion in public institutions.
• Such an arrangement is already being implemented in universities where the government admits and funds students to private universities and offers
Private secondary schools have asked the government to fund and place students to their institutions to address congestion public facilities.
In a petition before Parliament and the Education ministry, the private school owners suggest that their institutions be considered during the Form 1 selection exercise.
Should the proposal be adopted, the government will provide Sh22,244 capitation funds per student admitted to a private school.
The capitation funds support the government's Free Day Secondary Education programme.
With an estimated population of 200,000 learners admitted to private schools annually, the government will need Sh4.45 billion every year, to actualise the proposal.
The government is already implementing a similar plan in universities where it places students to private universities through the central placement portal.
Yesterday, Kenya Private Schools Association CEO Peter Ndolo said all students deserved to benefit from the capitation funds.
“There are no private and public students in the country and the idea here is to ensure equality for all learners,” Ndolo said.
It is unclear whether the institutions would be forced to cap the school fees as per the ministry guidelines should the Executive consider the proposal.
Another implication would be that the private schools would need to be listed as either national, county or extra county schools as is the case with the public ones.
Schools will be expected to admit 1,089,671 students who sit the KCPE examination in November.
This compares with the institutional capacity for 698,935 learners that will leave secondary schools as they sit the KCSE examination this year.
This means schools will have to figure out how to accommodate extra 390,736 learners joining Form 1.
Yesterday, Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman Indimuli Kahi said the 100 per cent transition next year would cause a management disaster.
He said the schools would be hard-pressed to absorb all the students sitting KCPE.
The principals are already asking for increased capitation or a raise in school fees in the institutions.
“I think this is a noble idea if well thought through and the right legislation to allow implementation," Kahi said.
“Some classrooms have up to 60 or 70 students after last year’s admission, instead of the recommended 40. School heads can’t create extra streams because of the inadequate number of teachers,” Kahi added.
Complications
However, the plan might be complicated following the government’s plan to change the selection criteria that will guide next year’s admission.
Candidates sitting for this year's KCPE will select 11 secondary schools.
Each candidate is expected to select a given number of schools per cluster in the five categories given.
All extra-county schools have been collapsed into three clusters based on their performance over the last five years.
(edited by O. Owino)