Education Ministry Reveals Form 1 Selection Formula As Placement Concludes On Tuesday
After 1,233,852 candidates took the KCPE and the results were released, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu stated that the selection process would be completed by Tuesday, January 17.
Machogu stated to the press that the Ministry of Education utilized a computer-generated placement mechanism based on performance, preference, and institution capability.
Affirmative action, particularly in public schools, is also utilized to promote equality among the disadvantaged.
“Form One selection is computerised. That is what we used,” he told Nation.
Silas Obuhatsa, chairman of the National Parents Association, encouraged the government to enable equality between students from private and public schools.Specifically, he pointed out that the Form One Selection criteria favored students from public schools and disadvantaged those from private schools.
The chairman urged that gifted students from private schools not be denied placement in public schools.
“We call for fairness in the selection that is solely conducted by the Ministry of Education. Children should be given a chance to join schools of their choice. Parents need to be involved in the exercise in the future,” he noted.
Obuhatsa also encouraged the Ministry of Education to assign students to schools of their choosing, taking into account school location and transportation costs.
"Sending children to far-flung schools they never chose also needs to end,” he pointed out.
Akelo Misori, secretary-general of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), repeated Obuhatsa’s comments, urging the Ministry of Education to ensure that the criteria are based on a candidate’s choice and performance.
"If a child is not selected to a school of his choice, he should be given a chance to join an institution of the same category. The criterion is according to the candidate’s choices and merit,” he noted.
CS Machogu has already reaffirmed the government’s dedication to the 100 percent transition policy.
Education Ministry Reveals Form 1 Selection Formula As Placement Concludes On Tuesday
