About 1.2 million Grade 9 learners are making one of the most consequential choices of their school lives this week as Kenya prepares for the first major transition into senior school under the Competency Based Education system.
The Grade 10 selection portal is open until Friday, 11 September, giving learners a limited window to select career pathways, subject combinations and preferred senior schools.
One important rule has changed.
Learners now have fewer schools to choose from.
The Ministry of Education reduced the number of senior-school choices from 12 to eight.
Students are also required to choose at least one and no more than two subject combinations.
This is not simply the old Form One selection process with a new name.
Senior school is designed around pathways intended to align learning more closely with students’ abilities, interests and possible careers.
That makes the decision potentially more complicated for parents.
Choosing a school is no longer only about prestige, location or examination performance. Families also need to establish whether a school offers the pathway and subject combination a learner wants.
The risk is that some families may focus on the school first and the pathway second.
That could leave a student in a highly desired institution but without the subject combination best suited to their ambitions.
Parents should therefore begin with the learner.
What subjects does the student perform strongly in?
What does the learner enjoy?
What careers are they considering?
Which pathway supports those interests?
Then comes the question of which schools actually offer it.
The exercise is also a major test for the government.
Around 1.2 million learners choosing schools within five days puts pressure on the digital selection system, teachers providing guidance and parents who may still be unfamiliar with how senior school will operate.
Questions also remain around infrastructure and whether schools are equally prepared to deliver specialised pathways.
The transition represents one of the biggest practical milestones since Kenya began moving away from the 8-4-4 system.
For parents, the temptation may be to chase the most famous school.
But under the new system, the more important question may be whether that school teaches what your child actually needs.
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Category: Education
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About the Author
Gladys Owano is a Kenyan creative and aspiring filmmaker pursuing Film Production and Animation from Multimedia University of Kenya. She is passionate about storytelling, cinematography, editing, animation and visual arts.
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