The Cabinet Secretary for Education Julius Ogamba has revealed that his ministry allowed Starehe Boys Centre and Starehe Girls Centre to reject 632 Grade 10 learners who had been placed at the two institutions.
The cabinet secretary made this revelation days after some parents lamented that they had been turned away from the two institutions, with others complaining that their children had been transferred to other schools.
According to Ogamba, the ministry of education had provided the two schools with a list of Grade 10 learners who had been placed there, after which the institutions rejected a total of 632 learners.
The institution claimed that these students, despite meeting the minimum scores, did not “qualify” to be placed at the schools.
“Upon comparison of the Ministry’s placement list and the schools’ internal selection criteria, it was established that only 81 boys and 61 girls met institutional criteria,” CS Ogamba said.
According to the minister, Starehe Boys rejected 317 learners while Starehe Girls rejected 315 learners. Shockingly, the learners were not only transferred without making requests; some were transferred to day schools that were lower than the C1 schools they had qualified for.
One parent told the media that their child who had scored 72 points and received a placement at Starehe Girls Centre had been moved to a day school. Another whose child had scored 71 points and was placed at Starehe Boys Centre had been moved to Moi High Mbururi in Embu County while yet another with 70 points had been shifted to Kagumo High School in Nyeri.
When the parents tried to seek assistance from the ministry, they were told that the school operates like a private entity and there was nothing the ministry could do. CS Ogamba, in his statement, had claimed that the affected learners had been placed at their second choice C! schools.
Prior to the death of its founder and director Geoffrey Griffin in 2005, Starehe Boys Centre was ranked as one of Kenya’s best national schools. The school regularly dominated the national Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations.
Over the past twenty years, the schools have lost their old glory in national examinations, sometimes ranking outside the top ten best schools nationally. Nonetheless, the schools are still regarded as institutions with good performances.
SEE MORE: Education Ministry extends Grade 10 Senior School transfers deadline
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