The Ministry of Education is facing a massive backlash over its new centralized Grade 10 placement policy, which has stripped school principals of their power to manage admissions. As the January 2026 reopening date approaches, the government has rejected over 67,000 transfer requests due to extreme oversubscription in elite Cluster 1 (C1) schools. While a second revision window has been announced for January 6–9, 2026, over 180,000 appeals are currently clogging the KEMIS system, leaving thousands of families in limbo and students posted to institutions that often do not support their chosen career pathways.
The promise of a smooth “Pathway” transition for Kenya’s first CBC Senior School cohort has hit a wall. In a move aimed at “transparency,” the Ministry of Education centralized all Grade 10 placements through the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), effectively taking away the discretionary power long held by school principals.
The result? A system-wide paralysis. Thousands of parents are spending their holidays in queues at Ministry offices, while others stare at rejection messages on their phones.
The numbers are staggering: out of 183,000 appeals processed by the weekend, the government has flatly rejected 67,000 requests.
The “C1” Bottleneck: 50,000 Seeking 20 Schools
The core of the crisis is a classic supply-and-demand failure. According to Basic Education PS Julius Bitok, over 50,000 learners applied for transfers to fewer than 20 elite Cluster 1 (C1) schools the newly categorized national schools. With each school having an average capacity of just 500, the math simply doesn’t add up.
“It is impossible to deal with the current volume of requests for top-tier schools,” PS Bitok admitted on Saturday. “We are seeing a situation where everyone wants their child in a few selected institutions, ignoring the capacity available in C2 and C3 schools.”
Why the Policy Shift Backfired
Historically, school heads could admit a small percentage of students based on proximity, medical emergencies, or family reunions. By moving this to a central “algorithm” in Nairobi, the Ministry has removed the “human element” from education.
The Fallout Includes:
Pathway Mismatches: Students who selected STEM are being posted to schools that only offer Social Sciences or Arts.
Distance Stress: Learners from Nyanza being posted to day schools in the Coast region.
Administrative Silence: With principals’ hands tied, they can no longer offer “joining instructions” to desperate parents on the ground.
| Placement Cluster | Old Classification | Capacity Status | Demand Level | | Cluster 1 (C1) | National/Extra County | Critical Shortage | Extremely High | | Cluster 2 (C2) | County Schools | Moderate | Medium | | Cluster 3 (C3) | Sub-County/Day | High Vacancy | Low | | Cluster 4 (C4) | Private/Specialized | Available | Niche |
The “Second Window” Lifeline
To prevent a total boycott of the January 5 reopening, the Ministry has announced a Second Phase of Revision from January 6 to January 9, 2026.
This window is specifically for those whose first appeals were rejected. However, critics argue this is “too little, too late,” as it falls after the official school opening date.
Timing : Jan 5 Reopening at Risk?
While President William Ruto has assured the nation that Ksh 44 Billion has been released for capitation, the money cannot follow a student who hasn’t been placed. Education analysts warn that if the placement mess isn’t resolved by the first week of January, the historic transition of 1.13 million learners could be marred by record-low reporting rates.
“We are urging the government to restore some measure of authority to the County Directors and Principals,” says an education consultant. “A computer in Konza cannot know that a child has a specific health condition that requires them to be near a specific hospital.”
