• Like last year, those with 400 marks and above are likely to secure places in national schools.
• If all the candidates from this year are absorbed, the number of students is expected to rise to about 2.9 million learners in secondary schools.
After releasing the KCPE exam results, Education CS George Magoha's next hurdle is how to ensure the million-plus children get places in secondary schools.
The selection for Form 1 began yesterday with the government assuring a place for all the 1,088,456 in line with its promise to ensure 100 per cent transition.
The candidates will wait for a fortnight to know which secondary schools they were selected to join, at least 60 days before admission in January.
Like last year, those with 400 marks and above are likely to secure places in national schools.
The exit of this year’s KCSE cohort will create room for only 600,000 students, leaving a deficit of over 400,000.
This deficit will complicate matters for Magoha as he looks for a proper plan to ensure the learners all get places.
Data from the National Education Management Information System shows 960,765 (93 per cent) of the 1,052,334 students who sat the test last year were admitted to secondary schools.
In 2017, 81 per cent of the candidates transitioned while in 2016, only 77 per cent of the learners moved from primary to secondary school.
Last year's figure is the highest ever transition rate and pushes the number of learners in secondary schools to 2.8 million.
If all the candidates from this year are absorbed, the number of students is expected to rise to about 2.9 million learners in secondary schools.
Stakeholders have raised concerns about the numbers, with last year's admission blamed for dangerous congestion and overstretching of limited resources.
On Monday, Magoha said Sh8 billion will be provided to improve infrastructure in primary and secondary schools.
“All children will have a place in secondary school. By December, every child who sat the KCPE 2019 will know what school they will join,” Magoha said.
Even with the Sh8 billion, it is practically impossible to construct classes to accommodate the learners within the two months before the school year starts.
Mapping out how the funds will be shared out will be another headache for Magoha.
The ministry's best option would be to develop the county and extra-county schools as they are projected to carry the bulk of the students.
The Education Ministry puts the number of secondary schools in the country at 8,542.
In the last three years, data from the Education Sector Report reveal the government has built slightly over 300 new classrooms.
Kenya Secondary School Heads Association chairman Indimuli Kahi yesterday said classes and teachers are most important to support the expected numbers.
Currently, some schools have as high as 70 students in one class.
However, Kahi said, the allocation by the government will ensure the infrastructure problem is addressed in the long run.
“In the initial stages, the schools will have to prepare themselves to support the influx as they wait for the government to fulfil its promise on infrastructure,” Kahi said.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers secretary general Akello Misori called for a public-private partnership to address the problem of poor infrastructure in schools.
"We all want our children to proceed to secondary school but the extraordinary enrollment could lead to high stress and anxiety among students," Misori told the Star on phone.
Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Wilson Sossion supported the 100 per cent transition plan but called for the employment of more teachers.
"With a failure to improve infrastructure and employ more teachers, the quality of education will be compromised," Sossion told the Star yesterday.
The ripple effect of last year's admission called for innovative measures by principals to try and contain the numbers.
These included the use of tents, converting dining halls and libraries into classes and triple -layer bunk beds to house those in boarding school.
Selection
Sources familiar with the selection process said that the placement of candidates to national schools is being done electronically to circumvent manipulation.
To ensure this, the candidates will not be able to change schools after receiving admission letters in January.
Before the current regulation, learners had the option to change the school they were admitted to in January, in a process called the second selection.
Day wing
Among the options the ministry has in place, is an ambitious plan scuttled at conception by former CS Fred Matiang’i.
Matiang'i had suggested having some top boarding schools create a day wing to accommodate the increased numbers.
However, the plan is in limbo, with very little done since 2017 when it was introduced.
The plan targeted 19 schools in Nairobi and was to be rolled out on a trial basis.
The schools targeted were Kenya High School, Starehe Boys Centre, Moi Forces Academy, Nairobi School, Lenana School, Pangani Girls High School and Moi Girls Secondary School - Nairobi.
Others were Ngara Girls Secondary School, Buruburu Girls High School, Embakasi Girls Secondary School, Parklands Arya Girls High School, Nembu Girls High School, Dagoretti High School, Lang'ata High School, Upper Hill Secondary School, St George’s Girls Secondary School, State House Girls, Hospital Hill High School and Ofafa Jericho High School.
Kenya Parents Association chairman Nicholas Maiyo said there was a need for the government to consider afresh the day wing plan.
"Some schools were not ready to have the day wings and the exit of Matiang'i scuttled the agenda. We hope to have a comeback of the project," Maiyo said.