George Magoha, Cabinet Secretary for Education, has responded to parents’ concerns about the placement of students who scored 400 or higher in the recently released Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results.
Magoha told the media in Nakuru on Thursday, April 7, that parents should not focus their efforts on getting their children into top national schools, noting that there were many good schools at the county level.
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He insisted that the government will use its own formula for placement.
The CS explained that the government had heavily invested in infrastructure and teachers in all schools across the country, so there was no need to compete for the few spots in top national schools.
“Every school in this country has well-trained and qualified teachers and all this noise about four or five schools that are at the top must and should stop.
“You should be satisfied with where your child has been placed. The children will be taught by the same teachers who are also in other places,” stated Magoha.
According to the CS, placement will take into account students’ academic abilities, and those with similar abilities will be placed in the same cohort. He also stated that the placement results would be released on Monday, April 11.
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Following the release of the 2021 KCPE results, some parents expressed concerns about the Ministry of Education’s placement formula, with most parents requesting that students who scored 400 or higher be placed in national schools.
“Our concerns as raised by parents and headteachers from the primary schools is that our students be given 30 per cent of the slots from the over seven national schools in the county,” Samuel Wanjema, Kiambu Parents Association representative, stated.
Magoha, on the other hand, promised that needy students who scored 400 or higher would be given special consideration in the placement process.
“I want to assure those parents who have extremely bright students from very poor families that we shall place them in good schools and a sizable number will be given the scholarship to continue with their education.
“President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed that we look for another 9,000 students to benefit from the Elimu Scholarship,” he stated
