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Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) George Magoha yesterday said that all 1,179,192 candidates who sat their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) last month will transit to secondary schools.

The CS urged all parents and guardians to take good care of their children so that all of them are able to take up their Form One spaces in the schools that they will be admitted to.

Magoha assured the country that the ministry has already conducted an audit of all new and existing vacancies in all private and public schools, to enable them admit all learners under the Free Day Secondary Education programme.

“ We are determined to work with the relevant agencies to ensure that no candidate misses a place in secondary school,” said the CS.

The students are expected to join Form One in July, when the 2021 education calendar will commence. 

To ensure that all candidates are placed in schools of their choice – based on performance and available vacancies, Magoha said the ministry will employ a water-tight system that will be both credible and of high integrity.

“The actual Form One selection exercise for all categories of schools will take place from May 28,” he said.

He also said that for the second year running, the government will offer 9,000 scholarships under the Elimu Scholarship Programme, which was initiated in 2019.

“I wish to thank President Uhuru Kenyatta for his intervention that enabled us to extend the scholarship programme to cover learners from informal settlements in urban areas,” said Magoha.

“I also thank the Equity Bank Management led by James Mwangi for working with the Ministry to effectively manage the scholarship programme,” he added.

The CS said the Ministry will soon announce details of the process of applying for the scholarship programme, which is meant for learners from needy families.