Ministry of Education Releases Guidelines for Grade 10 Learner Placement in Kenya

Ministry of Education Releases Guidelines for Grade 10 Learner Placement in Kenya

The Deputy Director of the Ministry of Education, Fred Odhiambo, has detailed the criteria that the ministry will utilize for placing learners into Grade 10.

While addressing the public on Wednesday, April 23, Odhiambo noted that the selection of senior schools for Grade 10 learners will be categorized according to the pathways and capacity, which include day and hybrid senior schools, gender, and special needs.

Learners, who are currently in Grade 9, are anticipated to progress to Grade 10 in 2026, which signifies the initiation of the senior school phase under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

According to CBC, the process of placing Grade 10 learners is determined by their results in the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA), which is scheduled to take place from October 27 to November 5, along with their selected career pathways. The three pathways consist of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); Arts and Sports Science; and Social Sciences.

Senior schools within the CBC framework are classified as either triple pathway schools, which will offer all available pathways, or dual pathways, which will provide either STEM, arts and sports science, or social sciences.

As stated by Odhiambo, learners will choose 12 schools based on their preferred pathways in the following manner: four schools in their first-choice track and subject combination, four schools in their second-choice subject combination, and four schools in their third-choice subject combination.

From the 12 schools that learners select, nine must be boarding schools – three from the learners’ home county and six from outside their home county – while three should be day schools located in their home sub-county.

Odhiambo clarified that the placement of learners into Grade 10 next year will hinge upon five distinct factors.

First on the list is the learners’ preference. The ministry will take into account the learners’ selections of pathways, tracks, subject combinations, and schools.

The second factor is merit, wherein the ministry will evaluate the learner’s academic performance on their Grade 9 assessment.

The third consideration pertains to psychometric tests, which encompass the learner’s aptitude, interests, and talent identification, to be conducted by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) and the respective schools.

The fourth factor involves equity, as learners will be assigned to schools based on regional balance to guarantee equitable access to institutions nationwide.

Finally, the placement of a learner will take into account the resources and capacity of the selected school.