All candidates who sat their 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination will get form one placement inline with the government’s 100 percent transition policy, Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha has affirmed.
He directed heads of learning institutions not to send home form one students from poor backgrounds due to lack of school as the practice was working against the 100 percent transition policy.
Professor Magoha said admitting all candidates to secondary schools is in compliance with Article 53(1) (b) of the Kenya Constitution on the provision of free and compulsory basic education to every Kenyan child.
The Cabinet Secretary further announced that the Ministry of Education has so far completed about 6,000 classrooms out of the over 10,000 expected to host junior secondary school students under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
He said the remaining 4,490 classrooms will be completed by the end of next month as scheduled.
The over 10,000 classrooms form the first phase of the project. Prof Magoha said the government has set aside money for phase two of the classroom project.
“We hope that by the time we leave the government in August, we will have completed 10,000 classrooms at a cost of Ksh 788,000 each. We are now approaching 94 percent in terms of works and we shall continue with the construction .I am urging field officers to encourage those who have not completed the classrooms to do so within the stipulated timeline,”
The CS was spoke at Kaptembwa slums within Nakuru-Town West Sub-County where he took the drive to mop up 6 learners from the informal settlement who were yet to report to school and escorted them to school.
“Heads of schools should understand and assist students from needy backgrounds. They should be able to provide them with uniform and other basic amenities once a child is admitted instead of sending him or her away.
It is the government’s policy that the learner regardless of his or her social background must be accorded all the support to go all the way to form four before joining a tertiary institution,” the Cabinet Secretary pointed out.
The traced students who had not reported to their respective institutions due to lack of school fees included 13 year Caro Ashley Anyango who garnered 390 marks and was called to Asumbi Girls, Gloria Adhiambo who scored 353 and was admitted to Sinyolo Girls and Joyce Lukwisa who received a calling letter to Tumutumu Girls after managing 359 marks. Others were Kelvin Munyovi who got 366 marks and was admitted to Migori Boys and Fauzia Akinyi who posted 321 marks.
At the same time, the CS who later commissioned Junior Secondary classrooms at Nakuru-West and Nakuru Boys secondary schools prevailed upon critics of the competency-based curriculum (CBC) to keep politics out of education reforms.
Political interference professor Magoha warned was likely to derail the implementation and impact negatively on the quality of education.
Prof Magoha said he had toured different parts of the country and was satisfied with the way teachers and learners were using the curriculum.
He listed teacher training, the construction of classrooms, and support for digital infrastructure to anchor digital learning as some of the key milestones ahead of the transition.
“Next year there will still be a government in place. We can come back to politics after we have discussed serious issues. I can confirm CBC is working. Ignore the prophets of doom who want to see it fail,” he said.
He directed ministry officials to trace all the 2021 candidates who are yet to join Form One. The officials are also to follow up on those who are expectant and ensure they continue with learning.
“One hundred transition started by President Uhuru Kenyatta has been very transformative. I want to ask the public to report any cases of pupils who have not reported to respective institutions they were called to,” Professor Magoha appealed.
He added that the government was committed to achieving the 100 percent transition so as to move the country from lower-income to upper-income levels and achieve the targets set by the Big 4 agenda.
Success of the 100 percent transition, the CS indicated, will help the county realize the objectives of Kenya Vision 2030, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals and African Union Agenda 2063.
The mop-up of the learners was carried out through a joint operation involving the Ministry of Education and that of Interior.
“These children are willing to be in school for they understand that education is an equalizer and a game-changer in their quest for a brighter future.
This is demonstrated by the fact that some three counties have already clocked 100 percent while about 10 others have also achieved over 90 percent in transition,” he noted.
Countrywide he revealed that the exercise has seen overall transition increase by about 15 per cent between last year and this year.
“This is an exercise that must continue until all counties register 100 per cent,” said Professor Magoha.
The CS directed all education officers and security officials in the 11 counties to begin tracing the whereabouts of the children in their jurisdictions.
