Education CS Ezekiel Machogu is set to face senators over the criteria used by his ministry to select Form 1 students.
Nyeri Senator Wahome Wamatinga petitioned the Senate Education committee to probe the process used to place Form 1 in various schools.
“The committee should outline the criteria for selection and procedure followed in enrolling students into Form 1 in Kenya,” Wamatinga said.
The lawmaker wants the ministry, through the CS, to state factors that were considered when allocating Form 1 slots to students.
This comes in the wake of a public outcry that many students missed out on the schools they selected.
“The committee should explain why these students, some of whom are 14 years old or younger, are made to travel long distances to join Form 1, yet there are equally good schools within their counties,” he said.
Deputy Speaker Kathure Murungi ordered the committee to immediately take the matter and file a report to the House.
Last month, Machogu disclosed that the ministry used a computer-generated placement system that was based on the performance, choice and capacity of a particular institution in selection and placement of the students.
“The placement was based on choice, merit and availability of places,” the CS said.
Some 38,972 candidates out of those who sat their 2022 KCPE exam were selected to join the country's 103 national schools
Of the 38,972 candidates, 20,178 were boys and 18,794 girls.
Data from the ministry shows that 228,160 students (117,055 males and 111,105 females) were selected to join extra county schools.
The Education ministry said following the selection, 270 students from slums areas were placed in national and extra county schools of their choice.
“This was in addition to those who were placed through merit and other criteria,” Machogu said.
Another 199,027 candidates were selected to join county schools, with 91,566 being male and 107,461 female.
Subcounty schools, mainly day schools, carried the bulk of Form 1 admissions with 762,610 students.
Out of the number, 387,203 were male while 372,459 female.
“Special needs education candidates were also placed in the regular schools of their preference, while others were placed in special schools based on their disability categories on merit and choice,” Machogu said.
