Approximately 400,000 Grade 10 learners are yet to report to senior schools for admission, the Ministry of Education has revealed.
This comes also as the Education Cabinet Secretary, Julius Ogamba, extended the Grade 10 admission exercise to Wednesday, January 21 citing bid for 100% transition to senior school.
The CS extended the deadline as some Ministry officials warned parents of arrests if they fail to take their children for admission to senior schools.
Chiefs have been tasked to ensure all Grade 10 in their areas of jurisdiction have reported for admission in senior schools.
Parents have cited inability to raise full fees, delayed bursary and high transport costs even as other families position their children to take up slots left vacant by students who fail to report.
Parents whose children have been admitted to schools far from their home counties say high transport costs compound the financial strain, raising fears that the final stretch of the Competency Based Education (CBE) rollout could be disrupted.
Basic Education Principal Secretary, Julius Bitok, said the low turnout was expected adding that this is the first Grade 10 class.
He said admissions would be strictly digital, using the same system employed during placement to enhance transparency.
Although the government released sh 44.2 billion in capitation, parents and teachers say the money has not eased pressure on households, with many citing the high cost of senior school uniforms, boarding requirements and many other essentials.
On the other hand some several Category Four (C4) senior secondary schools are staring at possible closure after failing to attract learners.
School heads are now urging the government to intervene and save Category Four schools, formerly sub-county schools, from imminent closure.
This is after thousands of parents scrambled for placement in Category One and Category Two senior schools, leaving Category Four ones in dire state.
In Machakos County, some schools have enrolled only three or four Grade 10 students three days into the admission process.
Kyeni Baptist, with a capacity of 90 students, has received only three learners. Kasinga Secondary, which has a capacity of 150 learners, has so far admitted only four learners, with no single learner turning up at Kiima Kimwe.
Johnbosco Kioko, Kasinga Secondary School headteacher, said: “The four students I have admitted are not ready to settle in class. They are lacking one or two things, and others are coming to look at how the school is and where it is so that they can go back, then prepare to come back.”
The Ministry of Education had placed 96 learners at Kasinga Secondary School despite the school having three streams with a total capacity of 150 students.
The headteacher blames the dismal turnout on the new method of placement, as most of those placed at the school were from far-flung areas.
“Kasinga is a full day school. My students who have been placed on the portal are from Kajiado, Kathiani, Kangundo, Mwala, in the city, and apparently I talked to a parent who tells me he is in Malindi and a child has been placed in Kasinga, where I do not have boarding facilities,” stated Mr. Kioko.