• Education ministry extends admission by a week, now to end on January 24.
• Low admission prompts Magoha to launch a campaign to track those yet to report to Form One and ensure they join school. Says fees not the problem.
Image: COURTESY
Only half of the expected one million candidates who sat the KCPE exam have joined secondary schools.
And the government is tracking them down, employing chiefs, police and local education officers to find them and put them in school.
The low turnout is a major setback to the government's efforts to realise 100 per cent transition.
Education CS George Magoha said on Monday more than 400,000 learners are yet to report to secondary schools as expected.
Day secondary school is free, so fees are not the issue. Some learners are pregnant, some are married, some are working. Some don't like school. The ministry is determined to find out the reasons.
Magoha did not give a comprehensive breakdown of how many learners had reported and where.
The government's initial plan was to have the admission of the 1,074,456 candidates who sat the KCPE exam done in five days. It was to end on January 17.
However, the ministry extended admission by a week; it is now set to end on January 24.
The extension is aimed at ensuring 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary schools.
The low turnout prompted Magoha to launch a campaign to track down those yet to report to Form 1 and ensure they join school.
The campaign will involve administrative officers — chiefs, Education ministry field officers and police — working with headteachers to identify learners yet to report.
No child will be left behind, data will be shared with local administrators who will team up with directors from the ministry in this final push.CS George Magoha
The government introduced 100 per cent transition to secondary school in 2017 and is aims to achieve full transition in 2020.
The ministry has prepared data packets bearing the names and locations of the students who are not in school.
"No child will be left behind and this data will be shared with local administrators who will team up with directors from the ministry in this final push," the CS said.
The campaign will also address socio-cultural barriers to secondary education, such as early marriages and pregnancy.
On Monday, Magoha began he campaign in Kibera, Nairobi, to push 100 per cent transition.
UNDERLYNG PROBLEMS
The majority of schools are day schools, government pays fees, so fees not the reason they don't report.
Despite the availability of Free Day Secondary Education and extending the period for enrolment, the CS said low turnout results from factors other than lack of fees.
Magoha said the majority of schools are day schools and fees are not the reason the learners are yet to report.
Education ministry statistics show at least 70 per cent of secondary school students are enrolled in day schools.
“The majority of secondary schools in the country are day schools and the government pays for school fees. So there must be another problem. It cannot be because of no money,” Magoha said.
(Edited by V. Graham)