A day after Education CS George Magoha released Form 1 placement results, some parents are dissatisfied with the process.
Magoha said affirmative action was used in placing the students in the national process, which was fully computerised.
National Parents Association chairman Nicholas Maiyo said it’s normal for placement to be far and wide in the country to ensure equity.
However, there’s hope for some of the parents whose children have been selected to join day schools that are far from their homes.
“We can make a list of and we can petition right away ,”Maiyo told the Star during a phone interview on Tuesday.
For instance, a child from Bungoma county was placed in a school in Makueni county while another one from Mombasa was selected to join a school in Trans Nzoia county.
Parents have decried the expenses that come with catering for their children's transport during opening day, half term break and closing day.
Maiyo said he will raise concerns with the ministry due to the arising financial challenges, which parents are facing.
“When you calculate the fare from Bungoma to Makueni its around Sh1,200, exclusive of fare from Makueni town to the school,” Carolyne, a parent told the Star.
Another parent whose daughter has been selected to a school in Meru county, is yet to find the exact location of the school.
“I don’t know how much it will cost me to take my daughter for admission from my home in Siaya to Meru,” Joyce said.
Magoha, while releasing placement results urged parents to be satisfied with the ministry’s choices.
He said the computerised placement method has been used for the second time in the country; the first time was in 2021.
“The machines are the ones which did that work but then we had told them to be sensitive, especially on day scholars,” Maiyo said.
Parents who were dissatisfied with the placement have resorted to seeking opportunities in private schools and nearby day schools.
Some 38,797 KCPE candidates have been selected to join national schools. Usually, national schools accommodate 29,712 students.
At least 214,000 others have been placed in extra county schools while 258,456 will be enrolled in county schools.
Another 726,311 students will be enrolled in subcounty schools while 2,045 have been placed in special needs schools.
Some 1,214,031 candidates sat the 2021 KCPE exam. Out of this number, 11,857 candidates scored between 400 and 500 marks.
Another 315,275 scored between 300 and 399 marks, while 578,197 scored between 200 and 299 marks.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
