Form One Admission Extended Due to Low Student Turn Out

Form one admission has been extended to Wednesday, January 17th  by the Ministry of Education following low student turnout.

According to Education PS Dr. Belio Kipsang, some regions across the country showed slow students turn out like the Coastal region thus the extension move by the Ministry.

The admissions were supposed to be finalized on Friday, January 12.

“Due to overwhelming turn up of students in some regions, and slow turn up especially in Coast region, and being considerate not to lock out any child, the cabinet secretary has authorized the extension,” Kipsang said on Saturday.

As a result, the new dates will affect replacements for those who fail to take up their positions, that was scheduled for January 17 and will now be done on January 19.

“Those selected during the replacement exercise will be expected to report by January 23, 2018,” added Dr. Kipsang.

The first group of students reported to their respective schools last week after which Education Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i raised concerns over low uptake of slots at the Coast region.

On Form One Student enrolment, I am alarmed by the low turn out of students reporting for Form One in the Coast region. I have spoken to the respective Governors and together we must get more children reporting to School.

— CS Fred Matiangi (@FredMatiangi) January 12, 2018

According to Dr. Matiang’i, 5,568 form one slots were allocated to students, out of which only 754 had been filled by Friday.

For instance, at Kwale High School, which has a Form One capacity of 240 students, only 55 had reported, representing 22.92 percent. At Malindi High School, which has a capacity of 240, only 57 or 24 percent reported.

The move is part of government’s efforts to achieve a 100 percent transition of students from primary to secondary schools.

Some of the reasons given by parents on the cause of the low turn up of student was lack of school fees and poverty while on the other hand others blamed school heads for withholding admission letters and demanding bribes before they could admit students.