The Ministry of Education has delivered a major blow to thousands of families after rejecting 24,000 review requests for Grade 10 senior school placements.
The rejections come amidst a high-pressure one-week review window where over 177,000 parents have flooded the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) portal.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok confirmed that while over 30,000 transfers have been successfully processed, 24,000 applications were declined due to “Merit-Capacity Mismatch.”
“Three Pillar” Rejection: Why Requests Failed
According to PS Bitok, the automated KEMIS system is designed to prevent the overcrowding of schools and the “dilution” of the new CBC pathways. Most rejections were triggered by three specific issues:
- Merit vs. Cluster: Students with lower KJSEA (Kenya Junior School Education Assessment) scores attempting to move into Cluster 1 (C1) schools, which are already at 100% capacity.
- Pathway Mismatch: A student requesting a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) pathway in a school that only supports Social Sciences or Arts and Sports.
- Invalid School Choices: Many parents attempted to transfer into schools that had not declared vacancies through their respective County Directors of Education
“The system is merit-based. You cannot revise into a school whose entry threshold you did not meet, or a pathway the school doesn’t offer,” explained PS Bitok during an assessment at Naivasha Boys.
December 30th “Lock-In” Deadline
Time is running out for parents in “limbo.” The Ministry has confirmed that the review portal will officially close on Tuesday, December 30, 2025. After this date, all placements will be finalized, and the system will be locked ahead of the January 12, 2026 reporting date.
Grade 10 Transition Roadmap:
- Dec 30, 2025: Final deadline for all placement revisions.
- Jan 5, 2026: Final admission letters available for download on the KEMIS Portal.
- Jan 12, 2026: First cohort of Senior School learners reports to their respective institutions.
What to Do if Your Request Was Rejected
For those whose requests were declined, the Ministry is offering a “Safety Net” option. The portal now displays a “Suggested Schools” list for each learner. These are institutions within the learner’s cluster that have:
- Verified Vacancies in the student’s preferred pathway.
- Proximity to the learner’s home (where possible).
- Available Capitation slots to ensure the learner benefits from government funding.
Regional Decentralization
To ease the burden on the Konza Data Centre, the Ministry has decentralized the review process. While Category One (C1) transfers are handled at Jogoo House, all requests for Clusters 2, 3, and 4 are being processed by County and Sub-County education officers. Parents are advised to visit their local Junior School headteachers for technical assistance.
