Learners who sat for the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, KCPE, exams will know the secondary schools they have been selected to join; this week. The selection exercise for the over 30,000 students who will be joining the 136 National Schools, in January 2024, is now complete and the Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu is expected to announce the results.
The over one million learners who sat for the 2023 KCPE exams will be waiting with bated breadth to know which of the 10,000 Secondary schools they will be joining come January 2024.
NATIONAL SCHOOLS SELECTION.
The selection exercise for National schools kicked off immediately after the release of the 2023 KCPE results. All the 9,770 students who scored over 400 marks are assured of slots in the National schools.
These will be joined by the top five boys and girls from each sub county countrywide; irrespective of the marks they scored. Other criteria like affirmative action have been put in place to ensure learners from marginalized areas are catered for.
SELECTION FOR OTHER SCHOOLS
Meanwhile, the regional selection exercise was carried out at designated venues across all the regions; countrywide. It is expected that all learners will be able to know the schools they have been selected to join any time from now.
The selection of candidates to Extra-County schools is based on a ratio of 20:40:40. This means that 20% of available vacancies in an extra county school goes students from the Subcounty where the school is found. While the host county and other counties get 40% each.
On its part, the selection criteria for students joining County schools in based on the 20:80 ratio. This means that 20% of the available slots in a County school go the hosting Sub-County while the remaining 80% are shared among other Subcounties; in that County.
SELECTION RESULTS
After the selection is complete Parents/ Guardians will then be able to receive the selection results via the Short Text Message Service, SMS.
The admission letters for the 2024 form ones will then be available at the Education Ministry’s portal for the students to download. The 2024 form ones are expected to report to their respective schools in January as the schools re-open for term one; as was the case in 2023.
GOVERNMENT’S 100% TRANSITION POLICY TO SECONDARY SCHOOL
The good news for the over one million 2023 KCPE candidates is that all of them will get vacancies in form one in 2024.
“His Excellency President Ruto has asked the Ministry of Education to ensure that every child who sits the KCPE Examination is admitted to secondary school under the 100 per cent transition policy. The aim of the Government is to ensure that all Kenyan children get basic education until Form Four,” said Education CS Exekiel Machogu while releasing the 2023 KCPE results.
“I wish to assure the country that the Ministry has put in place measures to fulfil the 100 per cent transition policy in 2024. All the candidates whose results will be released today should expect to be admitted to Form One. The Ministry has already conducted a mapping exercise of vacancies in all categories of schools that will admit all the candidates,” added CS machogu.
EXPANSION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT THE 100 PER CENT TRANSITION POLICY
The Kenyan Government has taken measures to expand the Secondary Schools infrastructure so as to accommodate the large numbers of admissions.
“The Government is determined to address some of the expected challenges of the 100 per cent transition. As a result, the Government – together with development partners under the Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project – will roll out a Sh8 billion programme to build classrooms and laboratories in 110 sub-counties located in 30 counties next year. These classes will ease the pressure on the existing facilities in our secondary schools,” the CS said.
LAUNCH OF THE ELIMU SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME FOR NEEDY LEARNERS
The Government will from next year (2024) put 9,000 Form One students from targeted regions under a full scholarship programme called ‘ELIMU SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME’.
Learners with over 280 marks have been urged to apply for the grant. The programme will be run under the Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project.
Additionally, all the girls who will be selected as beneficiaries of the Elimu Scholarship Programme will also be supplied with free sanitary towels for the full period of their secondary school education.
HOW TO KNOW FORM ONE SELECTION RESULTS AND DOWNLOAD ADMISSION LETTER
The selection exercise for the 2024 placement of form ones is complete. To know the secondary school your child has been selected to join, send the full index number to 22263.
Learners will also be expected to download their letters through the Ministry of education’s online portal.
The admission letter is important to both students and Parents/ Guardians. This is because it enables the two parties to prepare adequately for reporting to selected secondary school.
To download the admission letter to secondary School:
- Click on this link to access the download page from the Ministry of Education’s Website: Ministry of education download link for form one admssion letter.
- Then, Select the county and sub-county where your KCPE centre is located and key in your index number and Submit.
- Click on the link named “admission letter” at the bottom of the page for a copy of your admission letter.
- Use the printer icon to print or download icon to download to your computer.
- Get your primary school’s headteacher to endorse the letter and stamp it in the space provided.
- Finally, present it for admission together with a certified copy of birth certificate
Access the Official ministry of Education’s download page by using this link: http://www.education.go.ke/index.php/online-services/form-one-selection
But, what are some of the key highlights on the admission letters?
Here are some of the common details on the form one admission letters:
- All the admission letters bear the Ministry of Education’s letter head; The letter contains the Education Ministry’s logo and head.
- Name of the student, Index number and Sub County,
- School admitted to (The Secondary school where the student has been placed),
- Reporting date; Which is in January, 2024
- Former primary school’s details; the letter must be stamped by the head teacher, A disclaimer on the letter reads; “This letter will be authenticated on being duly certified by the primary school head complete with a certified copy of birth certificate and finally confirmed by the admitting principal. The letter is issued without any erasure or alteration and cannot be changed through any form of endorsement whatsoever; utterance of false documents is an offence punishable by law.”
- The 2024 fee guidelines from the Ministry (The letter gives fees directions thus; “The maximum fees payable per year is detailed in the attached schedule, do confirm the category of your school before making any payment.”)
- Parents/ Guardians expected to go to schools where their kids have been placed to pick further joining instructions and requirements. (“Urgently get in touch with your new principal at the above school for admission requirements,” says the admission letter from the Ministry.)
Other details that learners would get from the selected school include:
- Uniform descriptions,
- Boarding requirements; mattresses, blankets, e.t.c
- Any books’ requirements and
- Other personal effects as may be prescribed by individual schools.
The Government has insisted on its resolve to ensure 100 percent transition from Primary to secondary schools. Consequently, all the 2023 KCPE candidates will get places at preferred secondary schools.
