Since 2018, the government embarked on a programme to ensure that henceforth all class 8 candidates transit to secondary school, KCPE results notwithstanding.
The programme known as the 100 per cent transition to high schools has not been a walk in the park though due to many challenges facing it.
Kisumu County Director of Education Isaac Atebe however hailed the initiative adding: “Every child is entitled to access free education as stipulated in the country’s constitution. No child deserves to be denied this right.”
Atebe said 32,876 candidates sat for 2020 KCPE examinations across sub-counties in Kisumu though heads of secondary schools in the county expected about 37,000 students.
“This means the slots were more than enough to even cater for students from neighbouring counties,” he noted.
He said through government funding 224 secondary and primary classrooms were built in various sub-counties in Kisumu during the 2019/ 2020 financial year besides 576 toilets.
“Additionally, every student in a day school is awarded Sh5000 by the national government for infrastructure development while their counterparts in boarding schools receive Sh22, 244 for the same and other needs. When the government launched 100 per cent transition, it put enough measures to back it up,” he said.
“For instance, last week Maseno School was awarded Sh5 million for infrastructure development and purchase of learning materials,” Atebe stated.
And in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic that has been ravaging the country, he said Kisumu County government has so far distributed 296, 873 masks, hand sanitizers and soaps to public schools in the county.
On transfers, he advised parents seeking to transfer their children from various schools for whatever reasons to do it early to avoid disappointment.
“It is vital for every parent seeking to transfer the child from one school to another to do it before the government channels the student’s funds through the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) to previous schools,” he said.
He further advised parents to inform respective education offices in case they are instructed to pay excessive fees or forced to buy uniforms expensively by school management.
By Juliet Akoth and Caroline Koskei
