Kabianga, Nanyuki most sought secondary schools

By , January 17, 2023

Kabianga and Nanyuki High Schools are the most sought-after secondary schools in the country, yet again

Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu yesterday said that some 153,074  Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination candidates applied to go to Kabianga High School against a Form One capacity of 768.

The second most preferred school was Nanyuki High which was selected by 148,827 students against space for 576.

The third most selected school was Nyandarua High School with 137,511 against a capacity of 240, followed by Pangani, Maseno and Alliance High Schools with 119,265 against space for 384, 105,504 against 720 and 104,763 against 384 respectively. Other top 10 schools were Nakuru High School, Kapsabet Boys, Mangu High School and Butere Girls.

“During the selection, it became clear that a large number of candidates did not receive proper guidance and direction when choosing schools. This resulted in some schools attracting far too many applicants against their capacities,” said the CS when he released the Form One selection results yesterday in Nairobi.

Dream school

According to the CS, the results of such selection means many candidates will not get their choices and have to accept that it is not possible to be placed in their “dream” school.

He said there are several factors that led to such kind of selection like performance of schools and it will require some guidance.

“I wish to call upon head teachers and parents to ensure candidates make wise choices through proper advice,” said Machogu. For 2021 KCPE, Nanyuki High attracted the highest number of applicants, having received 154,524 applications compared to a capacity of 384 learners.

The second most selected school was Kabianga High, which saw 142,640 against a capacity of 480, followed by Pangani Girls with 124,982 applicants against 384 slots while the fourth was Nyandarua High with 123,976 applications against 288 places available followed by Alliance Girls, Maseno, Nakuru High, Kapsabet Boys, Butere High, Mbooni Girls, Alliance High School, Kisumu Girls, Nakuru Girls and Moi Girls Eldoret in that order.

Last year, principals for both schools attributed the high selection to learner friendly environment, which attracts more students to the learning institutions.

Nanyuki High Chief Principal, Oliver Minishi said the school has invested a lot in not only building the character of students but also bringing out their creativity.

“We build the character of our students and values. We believe in creativity among our students in several ways including introducing technical subjects so that they can explore and not just deal with academic work,” Minishi previously told the People Daily.

Minishi, a renowned playwright, said students are developing new interests and embracing other technical courses aside from traditional ones like medicine and law, which has encouraged them to take part in the processing system.

Technical subjects

He also said the school offers an expanded curriculum and has incorporated more technical subjects like Aviation, Electricity, Building and Construction, Art and Design, Drawing and Design, Islamic Religious Education (IRE) and even Home Science.

In 2017, the school had 15 examinable subjects and has risen to 22.

“We are now like a technical school… Parents see that kind of thing and they develop great interest with our school,” he added.

He also said that they have expanded filmmaking and music lessons in addition to other extra curricula activities like chess and Karate on top of other games like rugby, football, handball, volleyball, athletics and drama all of which have competed at the national level.

On his part, Kabianga Principal Aloo Joash also told People Daily that they have created a learner-friendly environment for all students and manage through dialogue.

“We offer foster parenting where a teacher is assigned at least 16 learners to walk with them for the four years in secondary school. We hold open sessions for at least thrice a week in classrooms, dormitories and as a school and we get feedback,” said Aloo, last year.

He also said that since he joined the school about seven years ago, there has not been a single incident of school unrest, a situation that has propelled the school.

The Principal also said they offer an expanded curriculum to include subjects like Building and construction, Woodwork, Drawing and design, Aviation, Electricity and foreign languages like French and German. Meanwhile, Machogu said some 33,984 students from 2,673 schools did not select any school in the 2022 KCPE.

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