486,000 Students Fail To Transition To Form 1 and JSS
Around 300,000 grade seven learners who were expected to pioneer junior secondary and 186,000 Kenya Certificate for Primary Education (KCPE) students who were expected to join Form One have not yet reported to their respective schools, three weeks after schools opened for Term One.
This means that the whereabouts of nearly half a million children are yet to be established under the Kenyan government’s 100 per cent transition policy.
The Ministry of Education has accused parents and schools of colluding to enrol learners for Standard Eight exams instead of Grade Seven, which raises questions about the extent of this transfer racket.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu said that only 900,000 learners had joined junior secondary school out of the 1.2 million who sat the Grade Six Assessment last year, stating that the number of learners who have registered in the junior secondary schools is not as good as it should be.
Basic education PS Belio Kipsang and Machogu have put on a brave face and exuded confidence that all candidates illegally transferred will be smoked out by the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS).
The learners under the 8-4-4 system are registered and issued with NEMIS numbers, which capture their information as they progress. However, it is not yet clear whether schools and parents have provided accurate data to NEMIS.
The CS urged parents to allow children to go through the normal process, as they have learned a different curriculum from the initial stage.
Machogu said the government would engage a multi-agency approach with the help of chiefs and their assistants under the Ministry of Interior to mop up to ensure that each child gets to school.
The admission of learners into Form One has been extended to ensure that more enrolment to secondary school is achieved.
Kipsang observed that the number of students who sat for KCPE included those in prisons and private candidates who do not necessarily have to join Form One.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education is working hard to ensure that learners who are yet to report to their respective schools do so to avoid affecting their education.
486,000 Students Fail To Transition To Form 1 and JSS