Form One admission is no child’s play, Mr Machogu

Kenya’s Education minister (Cabinet Secretary) Ezekiel Machogu must be a calm man. More than 130,000 Class 8 graduates are yet to join Form One three weeks into the exercise, but the minister says there is no cause for alarm!

But has he put his house/docket in order regarding the all-important admissions as he wants to portray?

While the government he serves has released data saying 131,854 learners were yet to join secondary schools after sitting the last Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination, the minister advised parents to  enrol their children in the said schools as they continued to look for fees.

“There is no cause for alarm,” he told the Daily Nation newspaper on January 28.

But, how does a parent who cannot afford a bus fare of Sh200 manage to reach her child’s school that may be hundreds of kilometres away?

Also Read: Bright and needy: Is this Kenyan bursary formula hurting the deserving?

While Mr Machogu does well in remaining calm at a time people are running scared of missing a lifetime chance in school, he does a bad job by issuing what is likely a roadside declaration on a grave matter such as this.

It is not enough to ask people to report to the said schools. No, it is the job of the minister to order the school principals across the country in an official communication to take in every Form One student unconditionally.

While some parents and guardians may abuse such opportunity by failing to work hard, it is impossible to walk to a school without both the government’s voice and the required fees and face the swashbuckling school heads who demand the so-called ‘nil balance’.

When he was releasing the results of the Elimu Scholarship requests, Mr Machogu acknowledged that only a small fraction of parents can pay fees without straining.

“The majority lead modest lives but struggle to enrol and retain their children in school,” the minister said while unveiling the 14,426 students who will benefit from the government scholarship, leaving a huge heap of unsuccessful applicants since 95,016 tried their luck in the lucrative funding programme.

Because he admitted that a majority struggle to pay school fees, there is cause for alarm and the only way to reduce the strain and anxiety is to offer official communication on how to reduce the pain for the helpless 131,854 learners and their kin.

editor@aplain.co.ke