Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha has issued a tough directive to all high schools within the country expected to record its highest form one admission.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Magoha directed that no school should turn away a student on the basis of minimal or no infrastructure.
His comments come even as the head teachers lament limited space within their institutions with the most affected being boarding schools.
He added that this being his final year at the helm of the ministry, he is hell-bent on ensuring that the country finally achieves the 100percent transition rate.
Magoha stated my orders are to deliver 100 percent transition. This is actually the fourth year we are going to deliver it. Because it is my last time, you can be sure I will deliver it with more energy.
He went on to comment that the child is a Government child. Who are you to start saying that there is no space in the school? If there is no space, do you think we are unable to create space?
The CS further jumped to the rescue of students from poor backgrounds directing that they should not be turned away for reporting without school uniforms.
This directive has forced some schools to invent ingenious ways of ensuring that all students get a bed as well as a desk in the classroom.
Kenya High School, which regularly has six streams, added a new stream after receiving a high number of students during admission.
Some institutions like Kisumu Girls High School were forced to convert the newly built Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) classrooms to serve as dormitories.
“This is a boarding school, what we don’t have is the dormitory. We are going to create some alternative room where the students will stay,” a staffer from the school told the press.
As the form one admission ends Tuesday, May 10, the Ministry of Education hopes to enroll more than a million students. Learners are also staring at a crash program with the academic year having been condensed into just six months. The normal school calendar will resume in January 2023.
