More than 300 secondary schools across the country did not receive any Grade 10 learners during the latest placement exercise, raising fresh questions about how students are distributed under the Competency-Based Education transition.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba told the Senate that 330 secondary schools failed to admit a single Grade 10 learner, while about 2,400 schools enrolled fewer than 20 students.
The ministry is now reviewing the placement results and plans to establish a technical team to examine the situation and recommend how schools with very low numbers should be managed if the trend continues.
Ogamba said the outcome was partly linked to the student choice policy used during school selection, which allows learners to pick institutions they wish to join.
“So, of course, this brought about the fact that a good number of schools did not get any Grade 10 students. To be exact, 330 secondary schools did not get Grade 10 students, and 2,400 schools got less than 20 students,” he said.
The Cabinet Secretary noted that the situation emerged despite the education system having far more available spaces than the number of learners transitioning to Grade 10.
“As a matter of fact, we had 2.4 million vacancies available, but we only had 1.13 Grade Nine students, so it’s possible that most of the schools did admit students slightly more than what they are normally used to, and this is because the policy in admission and placement is that the students select the schools that they want to go to,” he added.
He also explained that some lower category schools admitted more learners than they had initially planned because they did not have Form Two classes.
“I can confirm that a number of C1 and C2 schools. In fact, all the schools did admit more students than the placement that they had indicated because of the fact that they did not have Form Twos in place,” he said.
According to Ogamba, the ministry has already received the final report from the placement process and will study it before making any policy adjustments.
“We’ve just received the exit report, and we want to form a technical team to discuss how we are going to handle these schools, if this is a trend that is likely to continue and that will inform also other policy changes with respect to the schools that are admitting more students, or the school that many people want to go to,” he said.
The Cabinet Secretary also addressed the organisation of Junior Schools, saying the current arrangement was guided by recommendations from the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.
He said most stakeholders who submitted views during the review supported the decision to keep Junior Schools within primary schools rather than placing them in secondary schools or making them stand-alone institutions.
“The decision to domicile Junior Schools in primary institutions was informed by psychosocial, logistical and cost considerations,” he explained. “Younger learners would face integration challenges in secondary schools, and utilising existing primary school classrooms, especially those previously used by Standard Seven and Eight, is more cost-effective than constructing new facilities.”
Under the arrangement, primary and junior schools operate under one head of institution and a single Board of Management to ensure proper governance and a smooth transition for learners.
Ogamba said the separate financial accounts for junior schools are meant to reflect different capitation levels rather than create independent administration.
Primary school learners receive Sh1,420 annually in capitation, while each junior school learner attracts Sh15,042.
On teaching staff and career development, he said the Teachers Service Commission supports school heads through capacity building. Junior school teachers are trained graduate teachers and follow the secondary level Competency-Based Education curriculum.
Their career growth also follows the 2018 Secondary School framework.
The Cabinet Secretary further dismissed claims that the 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment results were manipulated.
He said the ministry was not aware of any irregularities and that the results released by the Kenya National Examinations Council were accurate.
According to him, the assessment system under the new curriculum measures learners’ strengths and talents rather than ranking them using traditional aggregate scores.
Performance is reported through categories including Exceeding Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Approaching Expectations, and Below Expectations.
“A Competency-Based Assessment Portal provides schools with a digital platform for reporting learner performance with standardised scoring and verification,” he added.
Ogamba also highlighted efforts to promote student talent development in Kisumu County through co-curricular activities.
He said 617 public primary schools and 232 secondary schools take part in programmes coordinated by organisations such as the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association, the Kenya Primary and Junior Schools Sports Association, the Kenya Music Festival, and national science and drama competitions.
Between 2022 and 2025, more than 500 student athletes from the county attended regional training camps and competed at national and East African levels.
Some have also secured sports scholarships at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, while several female athletes have progressed through the Harambee Starlets programme.
However, Ogamba said challenges still exist, including limited sports facilities, uneven access for learners in remote areas, and coordination gaps.
To address integrity concerns in talent identification, the ministry has introduced a digital athlete registration system linked to the Kenya Education Management Information System.
He said the move replaces the earlier manual system and is expected to improve transparency.
Ogamba maintained that the ministry remains committed to building inclusive talent development programmes that give learners from all parts of the country equal opportunities to grow and compete locally and internationally.