400,000 Students Yet To Join Form One – CS Magoha

More than 400,000 students have not joined form one according to Education CS Professor George Magoha even as the government continues to insist on the 100 percent transition from primary school to secondary school.

A total of 1,088,986 candidates sat their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) with the government through the Ministry of Education saying that it had laid down strategies to ensure that all the candidates transitioned to high school.

In order to ensure that every child who sat their KCPE went to form one, the government warned all secondary headteachers against turning away children from poor backgrounds and who could not afford school fees.

The headteachers seem to have defied the order from the government against admitting students who are unable to pay school fees, turning away hundreds of them, the majority of whom have decided to repeat class eight.

Professor Magoha has kicked off a campaign of moving from house to house to ensure that every child who sat for KCPE goes to a secondary school. He has called upon chiefs and their assistants to make sure that no child remains at home or repeats class eight.

READ: Did Student Start Fire in Bahati School Dormitory To Commit Suicide?

Students From Poor Backgrounds

As students started joining form one for 2020, cases of students who could not afford to pay school fees have been on the rise. Media has played a role in trying to highlight some of the cases of desperate parents and students.

The rise in the cost of education in Kenya has hit hard on low-income earners as well as children from poor backgrounds. The majority of them cannot afford school fees despite government assurances that every child has part of their fees paid by the government.

For the year 2020, the government offered to sponsor 9,000 students coming from major slums across the country to pursue their secondary education although the process of selection has been marred with controversy.

Do you have a student who did well in KCPE but has not joined form one because of financial problems? Tell us in the comment section and we shall contact you.

READ: 9000 Students To Have Their Form One Fees Fully Paid By Government