Kenya High, Mangu, Kapsabet Boys, Alliance Girls and Friends Kamusinga will host the cream of the crop of the KCPE exam.
Top student Mumo Faith Kawee will join Kenya High School while the top boy, Wanyonyi Samuel Makhanu, also fourth nationally, will join Mangu High School.
Analysis by the Star further shows Wesonga Yvette Nanzala and Muriithi Angel Gakenia, both of whom scored 432 to become the second-best performers in the 2020 KCPE exam, will also join Kenya High School.
Castro Kipkirui who emerged fifth nationally and the second-best boy will proceed to Kapsabet Boys, while Tarus Chepkemboi Laureen will join Alliance Girls; both scored 431 marks.
Kipkirui Abiud scored 430 marks and will join Friends School Kamusinga.
Mwangi Margret Waruguru who was the eighth-best in the country with 429 marks will join Alliance Girls.
Bernice Checed Omondi and Kiogora Joy Nkatha close the list of the top 10 performers and tied with 429 marks. They will both join Kenya High School.
The placement results come two months since the release of the KCPE exam results.
It also was conducted for the first time in June following the closure of schools to stem the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2019 and subsequently delayed administration of the 2020 KCPE exam.
Education CS George Magoha said this year’s selection process had considered equity, merit, affirmative action, fairness and inclusiveness.
The CS spoke on Tuesday while releasing the Form One selection results.
National schools will admit 36,254 candidates, an increase from the 33,000 that joined schools in the national category last year.
Extra county schools will admit 201,077 students, 213,591 will join county schools while 718,516— the bulk of the candidates— will join subcounty schools.
Special needs schools will enrol 1827 students.
Of the 1,179,192 candidates that sat the exam, 1,171,265 have been placed in secondary schools with the exclusion of inmates, overage candidates and those in refugee camps.
The focus now shifts to admission set to take place on August 2, giving parents at least one and a half months to prepare.
This year admission will be the third cohort of students to be admitted under the 100 per cent transition policy.
This year’s admission is expected to push the secondary school population to a record 3.1 million from the current 2.8 million.
To address congestion in the institutions, Magoha says, the government has allocated Sh4.2 billion for infrastructure development in public primary and secondary schools.
“These funds will effectively be used to ease the strain on school facilities due to the increased enrolment,” Magoha said.
He said the Education ministry will work with the Interior ministry to see all candidates who sat the 2020 KCPE exams join secondary schools.
“Right from the first day of reporting, our ministry officials will be required to file accurate daily returns on the status of reporting to schools,” the CS said.
Last year, the 100 per cent transition drive saw the ministry enrol 98 per cent of those who sat the KCPE in 2019.
Magoha further warned principals against turning away students due to lack of fees but also asked parents to honour their responsibility of paying their dues.
He asked parents to pay the amount prescribed by the ministry. "Any other charges are illegal," he said
“Parents are therefore advised to only pay the fees set by the ministry and report incidents of any students turned away for not paying higher fees to the nearest education office for action,” Magoha said.
The CS said some candidates missed out on the schools of choice for putting the focus on a few top schools.
Magoha said the institutions cannot admit all those that had selected the institutions, thus forcing them to schools they had not chosen.
He termed the competition to join top schools as "crazy".
Schools that registered the biggest applications include Nanyuki High that was selected by 154,524 candidates, Kabianga High 142,640 and Pangani Girls selected by 124,982 candidates.
Others include Nyandarua High (123,976), Alliance Boys (105,053), Maseno (104, 581), Nakuru High (100,840), Kapsabet Boys (95,642) and Butere Girls (94,774).
The CS faulted parents and schools for failing to provide proper guidance in the selection of schools.
"This act… made many of the candidates miss their preferred schools because it is impossible to select more than five learners from the same primary school," Magoha said.
He called on headteachers and parents to help learners in the selection process.
SCHOLARSHIPS
The CS also said scholarships that will be available to the learners joining Form 1 should to be limited to those headed to boarding schools.
Magoha says that the government caters for the day schools fully, thus students are not required to pay any extra fees, unlike those in boarding schools.
This year, those proceeding to secondary school will get a chance to support their education through 9,000 government-funded Elimu scholarships.
Out of these, some 6,000 scholarships will be reserved for candidates from 105 subcounties classified as hardship zones, while 3,000 will be limited to slum and informal settlements.
“A record 53,885 candidates applied for the scholarships compared to 33,000 who applied in 2020,” Magoha said.
There are other scholarship opportunities with the Wings to Fly programme under the Equity PLC.
Magoha said the ministry is in negotiations with Kenya Commercial Bank, ABSA Bank and Cooperative Bank to get more scholarship opportunities for needy students.
(Edited by V. Graham)
.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
