End of an era: No more Form One admissions as reforms start

Starting from the 2025 academic year, secondary schools will no longer have Form One admissions, marking a departure from the norm of the past four decades.

Nearly a million candidates who sat the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) were placed in Form One at various categories of secondary schools – National, Extra County, County and Sub-County - which they joined in mid-January 2024.

This placement marked the end of an era in several fronts. These students were the  last 8-4-4 cohort  to sit the KCPE exam and transition to secondary school,  and will also be the last to sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2027.

In the previous years, KCPE results were released, and Form One placements were completed before Christmas, allowing learners and their parents time to prepare for secondary schools.

However, this tradition has now ended, and as the school year begins today, January 6, there will be no admissions for Form One.

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Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has already issued a directive regarding  the admission of learners through transfers in secondary schools.

“In light of the ongoing reforms in the education sector, it has come to our attention that some principals are declaring availability of vacancies and calling for interviews of willing learners in various schools across the country,” the PS said.

The PS stated that secondary schools are over enrolled due to the 100 per cent transition and are experiencing congestion on available facilities.

However, the PS directed that, with the non-admission of Form One in 2025, schools should address congestion in both classrooms and dormitories as part of improving learning conditions.

To this end, principals were prohibited from declaring any vacancies without the approval of the Ministry, and those who had conducted interviews directed to cancel the process.

He said all transfers must comply with the Basic Education Act, 2013 Section 32 and 34(4) and must also be approved by Ministry’s officials.

“No person shall while admitting a child to a public school or a basic education institution collect any admission fee,” Section 32 of the Act states.

The Government is in the process of implementing Competency Based Education (CBE) and gradually phasing out the 8-4-4 system, which started in 1985.

As the new academic year starts today, the first CBC class will transition to Grade 9.

The process of streamlining their summative assessment dubbed the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) is already underway.

KJSEA will be taken at the end of the year and will also play a significant role in shaping their future careers.

Initially, junior schools were domiciled in secondary schools but following complaints and concerns raised by various education stakeholders, it was placed at primary schools.

In 2022, President William Ruto constituted the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) to review CBC to address concerns of access, relevance, transition, equity, governance, finance and quality in education, training and research.

The report was premised on effective implementation of competency-based education, which promotes an individual’s wellbeing and acquisition of capabilities, skills and values in order to contribute meaningfully to the economy and society.

The Government introduced CBE in Kenya in 2017.