By Flora Awinja and Mwanasiti Salim
The country continues to usher in the new CBC education curriculum but it has not lost sight of the pioneer 8-44 education system that has served the Kenyans for many years.
This year’s primary class 8 candidates are the last class of the 8-44 system.
From Monday 6 February 2023 thousands of secondary schools across the country started receiving form one students in an exercise that is set for a one week period.
In Kwale for example, statistics show that there is a total number of 23,000 candidates who sat for the KCPE examinations in 2022.
Out of that number according to Kwale county education director Martin Cheruiyot 20,000 students are expected to join secondary schools within Kwale area while 3,000 are expected to join training and vocational training institutes.
The Waa boys high school is one of the Extra county schools in the region that started admitting students with the expectation of admitting 354 form 1 students by 13 February 2023.
Julius Changawa the schools’ Principal says the number allocated to the schools is higher than its accommodation level.
According to him the school can admit about 250 students but the ministry of education has allocated it 354 students which is straining the institution.
“The the extra 100 students will still be taken care of as the board and the school management is making arrangements to sort out the issue. The classroom will be accommodative but the biggest challenge is the boarding facilities,” he added.
Registration usually involves collecting admissions documents including academic results from the previous studies, letters of recommendation from a student’s current or former school teachers & ID cards or certified birth certificates.
It can also include applying for accommodation, arranging for scholarships or discounts for low-income families & any other mandatory requirements per each high school’s conditions.
Once all documents are collected, verification takes place & upon successful completion, admission letters are sent out to prospective students. Transport, meals & tuition fees payments follow soon after but it all depends on individual cases.
Parents interviewed by Coast Times Digital appreciated the government for instructing institutions to ensure they admit students either with or without fees.
According to Hamisi Ngema, one of the parents, some of the schools have made it easy for parents to get all requirements from the institutions instead of moving from one shop to another to buy the same items.
The items include buckets, mattresses, uniforms and shoes among others.
However Teresia Kibugi, also a parent, said that the process of admission at the school was taking time due to the large number of students involved.
“It is a very tiresome exercise because you have to wait for others to be served and the line is long but the entire process is going on well,” she said.
Waa Boys high school will be celebrating 100 years since it was started in 1923 by August this year.
