A maximum tuition of Sh53,554 for national schools and Sh40,555 for county schools has been set by the government, according to Ezekiel Machogu, the Education Cabinet Secretary.
In addition to announcing Form 1 selection, he spoke at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) during the briefing and revealed that Form 1 students will start reporting to school between February 6 and February 13.
He added that the government works to ensure a seamless transition from primary to secondary education and that all candidates for the November KCPE exams were assigned to secondary institutions.
According to the CS, students will be able to access the portal starting on Tuesday to see which schools have been assigned to them.
PS, Belio Kipsang has urged schools to let parents shop around for uniforms so they can buy them at reasonable prices.
During the placement of Form I students, Mr. Kipsang said that schools shouldn’t impose restrictions on the retailers from which parents can buy uniforms for their children making the transition from Grade Six to Grade Seven.
This comes after CS Machogu announced that the ministry had decided to separate junior secondary school (JSS) students from primary school students by giving them separate uniforms.
“The choice of uniform style and color will be made by the respective boards of schools.” he said.
The announcement comes days after parents complained that new uniforms would be an additional cost in what is an already difficult economic time.
“The police and nurses have common uniforms. Uniform does not contribute to the performance of a child in school, it is like going to an office with or without a tie, but you perform your duties. The question of children having different uniforms in Kenya has been a problem because the cost differs, some are very expensive and sold at specific shops,” said Silas Obuhatsa, the National Parents Association chairperson.
Mr Machogu said that all 1.2 million students who did Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) in 32,555 centers across the country will transit all to JSS in line with the government’s 100 per cent transition policy.
He added that results from KPSEA will be available from tomorrow on the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) portal.
