The Ministry of Education has rejected transfer requests from over 60,000 learners who sat the 2025 Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA), citing severe capacity constraints in senior secondary schools.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said the bulk of the affected students had applied to be transferred to a small group of elite senior schools, most of which lack the infrastructure to accommodate additional learners. Bitok noted that fewer than 20 top-tier institutions across the country attract overwhelming demand every year, yet their facilities, staffing levels, and boarding space remain limited.
“The challenge is not performance but capacity. These schools simply do not have room to take in thousands of extra students,” the PS explained.
He added that the Grade 10 placement process was conducted through a fully automated system designed to ensure fairness, transparency, and national balance. The system considered multiple factors, including learners’ school preferences, individual performance in the KJSEA, psychometric assessment results, equity principles, and the available space in each institution.
According to the ministry, allowing mass transfers to a few popular schools would undermine the goals of equitable access and balanced development within the education sector. Officials emphasized that all public senior secondary schools have been vetted and approved to offer quality education under the Competency-Based Curriculum.
The ministry has urged parents and learners to embrace placements in other well-equipped institutions across the country, noting that quality education is not limited to a handful of national schools. Education officials also encouraged stakeholders to support the expansion and upgrading of more schools to ease pressure on top institutions.
The government maintains that the current placement framework remains the most practical way to manage growing student numbers while promoting fairness, inclusivity, and optimal use of existing school infrastructure.