State disburses Sh750m for schools upgrade

More students are expected to join national schools next year after the government released Sh750 million to upgrade 30 schools to national status ahead of Form One selection.

Education Permanent Secretary George Godia on Monday said the money will be used by the schools to build more classrooms and other facilities ahead of the February 7 selection process.

This means that 78 national schools will select students after the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results are announced towards the end of January.

By last year, there were 48 national schools, with each schools taking up to 45 students per stream.

Each of the schools has been awarded Sh25 million split in two phases of Sh12.5 million.

“We want to ensure that the schools have adequate infrastructure and a national acceptance,” Prof Godia said.

Candidates are allowed to choose four national schools when registering for their KCPE examinations.

They also choose three county schools - of these, two must be from within the county, while one is selected from other regions.

Selection to the schools is treated in the order of choice of the schools as presented by the candidate.

Prof Godia said the selection formula to the national schools was still being discussed, but the number of students to be admitted to the top schools would increase substantially.

“We are still working on the formulae but what is important is that the number of slots in the national schools will increase,” he added.

Besides the new national schools, the existing ones are also increasing classrooms to accommodate more students.

An additional 27 schools have been earmarked for elevation to national schools in the next financial year which shall be the last phase of upgrading the national schools.

This will bring to 105 the number of national schools in the country.

“The idea is to have at least two national schools in each of the counties countrywide,” Prof Godia said, adding that selection to these schools will seek to promote national integration and cohesion.

A circular he released last month says the national schools will admit students from all parts of the country, irrespective of their county of location.

Other than the top two candidates from either gender who will join national schools, each district will also be given a quota of additional candidates that will be selected to the institutions.

“When a district misses a slot due to low candidature, affirmative action will be applied,” the guidelines say.

But the new 27 schools to be created next year will be called “extra-county” schools and will admit 40 per cent of their Form One students from all parts of the country.

They will pick another 40 per cent of candidates from within their counties while the rest will come from the districts that are hosting the schools.

According to the circular, municipalities and their hosting districts will share 40 per cent of the places meant for county schools in their regions based on their candidature.

The municipalities affected are Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Thika and Kitale.

All current day schools and former provincial schools with a day wing will select all their Form One candidates from the districts where they are located.

The ministry of Education has also opened a window for candidates who sat Form Four exams over the past two years, but failed to join Form One to re-enter the school system.

The students will be selected during the replacement of those candidates who fail to take up places in the first selection.

The five schools that usually select their new students before the actual selection date will be allowed to continue doing so.

These are Starehe Boys, Starehe Girls, Moi Forces Academy Nairobi, Moi Forces Lanet and Utumishi Academy.