3,882 out of 24,136 candidates who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination in Baringo County last year have not joined Form One.
According to the County Director of Education (CDE), Masibo Kituyi, majority of the children who have not managed to be absorbed come from Tiaty East and Marigat Sub-counties.
Briefing KNA on the status of admission to Form One, the Director said that a total of 20,254 candidates have so far been admitted to various secondary schools within and outside the County.
Mr Kituyi stated, out of those still to join Form One 2,139 are boys while 1,743 are girls, with the two Sub counties as the worst affected regions in terms of transition.
Mr Kituyi said that the Department is working very closely with the Interior Ministry to ensure that all the children were sought out in order to be placed in the nearest learning institutions, expressing optimism that the mop-up exercise will bear fruits.
“Basic education is compulsory to all our school-going children, hence, all stakeholders need to come on board, so that we can ensure a 100 percent transition is recorded in our county,” he stressed.
The County Director noted that about 160 vulnerable students in the County have benefited from various scholarship programmes offered by financial institutions with Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF) sponsoring 144 students, while Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Foundation taking 16 of them.
He added that many other needy children from poor households have secured bursaries from other entities such as the National Government Constituency Fund (NG-CDF) and well-wishers.
The CDE encouraged parents and guardians who are unable to send their children to national and extra-county schools beyond the region due to various unavoidable circumstances to look for other alternatives such as seeking admission at local learning institution of the same cadre or day schools within the area, so that all the learners do not miss out.
Kituyi cited lack of fees and other monies to purchase basic requirements as some of the major constraining factors contributing to the failure, to report to the schools admitted to on time.
By Moses Lando and Joshua Kibet
