Schools battle Form One intake nightmare

By Augustine Oduor

Ministry of Education officials met Wednesday to thrash out a fair formula for Form One selections following the creation of 30 additional national schools, in addition to the current 18.

The nightmare of selecting Form One students for national schools has been made worse by pressure from some senior Ministry of Education officials to slot in sons and daughters of the rich and powerful.

There is also a requirement that 75 per cent of admissions come from outside the schools’ counties.

Last year, Form One selections for national schools were weighted in favour of students from public primary schools.

A fresh proposal seeks to create at least two national schools in each county, although it is not clear how many vacancies the new schools will create. The latter raises the total number of national schools to 48.

Parents buy books along the streets of Kakamega as schools reopened for first term. [PHOTO: BENJAMIN SAKWA/STANDARD]

Coupled with the selection nightmare facing schools, is the pressure on principals from well performing schools to reserve vacancies for children of the high and mighty, senior government officials and local politicians.

Several national school principals spoke to The Standard on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

All said they were forced to change their mobile phone numbers because of the numerous calls from senior people seeking vacancies for their relatives.

"I can tell you this is worst period in my life. People who have never spoken to you for years are calling, some have students with good grades, others with bare minimum yet they expect you produce excellent results," said the principal who has relocated to Nairobi to avoid pressure.

"At times we are forced to deliver blank admission letters, signed but without names of candidates being admitted. The bosses (senior education officials) then fill in the names and send them back to us," said another principal.

Education PS Prof James ole Kiyiapi said additional 6,000 vacancies will be created from the upgraded provincial schools.

Affect performance

"The ministry will spend Sh750 million on the 30 schools that have been upgraded to national status this year. The schools have been allocated Sh25 million each and have received Sh12.5 million for infrastructure expansion," Kiyiapi said.

The Standard learnt that the government is shaken by the growing dissent to last year’s selection formula that saw only one candidate picked from private schools in every three from public schools.

Education Secretary Prof George Godia assured parents and pupils that the exercise will be free and fair and all students who qualified will gain admission without hitch.

Anxiety gripped parents, students and private schools over this years’ Form One selection, even as senior government officials retreated to closed-door meetings to craft the best selection formula.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary General Okuta Osiany voiced its opposition on the proposed formula.

"We do not want such a discriminative system. How can the Government categorise pupils as private and public? They are all Kenyans," he said.

"It is unfortunate that the Government is admitting it has failed to provide quality education to its citizens. Why would a responsible government do that? We have not been consulted on that, but if the Government insists on that formula, we shall make our position known as a union," Okuta said.

Bright students from private schools are now anxious, as they are not sure they will secure vacancies in government secondary schools.

Senior officials from the Directorate for Secondary and Tertiary Education Department are holding meetings at the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) ahead of the Form One selection slated for January 13.

Sources privy to the meetings said the Government is facing a delicate balancing act in its attempt to restore public confidence in the selection of students to join national schools.

Issues include the fate of State-sponsored pupils, affirmative action to improve the boy-girl ratios in secondary schools, and how to be fair to private schools.

Godia said that in line with the new Constitution, the method is aimed at achieving equity and fairness in selecting candidates to national schools.

He said the formula establishes a district quota by dividing the number of candidates in a district by the total number of candidates registered nationally, and then multiplying it by the number of places available in national schools.

The number of candidates from either private or public schools is divided by the number of candidates nationally then multiplied by the number of vacancies in national schools, said the official.

But as a result, only a quarter of the candidates who sat the KCPE in private schools in 2010 were admitted to national schools last year.

The Kenya Private Schools Association (Kepsa) has threatened to move to court if a discriminatory system is used in Form One selection again this year.

"We will not relent in our cause to demand that the rights of these children is respected. They are not punishing private schools, but the pupils who went to school for eight years and passed examinations," said association’s national chairman, John Mwai.

Review selection

Kenya National Association of Parents, Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (Kessha) and the Kenya National Parents & Teachers Association and the two teachers’ unions have asked the Government to review the selection method to accommodate all pupils.

Knut said they were watching the Government keenly, and would not be party to an unpopular policy.

"The Government has always introduced policies without consulting us. If they do so we shall take a stand," said national chairman Wilson Sossion.

"Space in national schools has been increased and they should be able to have a bigger intake this time without discriminating against any pupil. The number is big and we should not lock out those who merit a place," said Kessha national chairman Cleopas Tirop.