Resolve the crisis in secondary education

Form One admission was officially concluded on Friday. At least the government hopes that all the one million-plus qualifiers have been absorbed. Earlier, Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed had indicated that some 300,000 students had not taken up their places but expected them to report before the expiry of admission deadline.

Placement of Form Ones has been unusually problematic this year. The government introduced computerised selection of candidates and completely locked out school principals. But the system had challenges. Several top Standard Eight performers missed out on the secondary schools of their choice as the system randomly threw them to all sorts of institutions, generating a public uproar, which the ministry did not properly respond to.

From the outset, the government had expressed its goal of promoting all KCPE candidates to Form One in what became a 100-per cent transition policy. This is a noble goal. Under the universal basic education framework, which Kenyan law has adopted in line with international protocols, all learners should attain a minimum of Form Four education. It is this level of schooling that equips learners with knowledge and capabilities that can guarantee them decent employment, enable them to participate in governance and exercise their rights.

However, the ministry was poorly prepared for the 100-per cent transition plan. The admission process was chaotic. Many students and parents are ruing the fate that befell them. And schools are feeling the heat. The ministry sent large numbers of students to schools far beyond their capacity. National and top extra-county schools have nearly doubled enrolment but without commensurate facilities. Principals say they have been forced to have classrooms with more than 60 students and introduce more streams. Yet there are no facilities, teachers and funds to cater for these numbers. The congestion is a recipe for chaos.

Last week, Ms Mohamed announced that the ministry had allocated Sh1.5 billion to secondary schools for infrastructure development. But that is a paltry sum, considering that the country has nearly 10,000 public secondary schools. Even then, by the time the cash is sent to schools and new facilities put up, a lot of damage will already have been done.

Further, the funding model, where the government caps fees at Sh53,000 a year, is unrealistic. Despite the Sh22,000 top-up per student annually, it is inadequate. Worse, the cash often delays.

The Form One admission debacle is merely the tip of the iceberg. The secondary education crisis cries out for urgent resolution.