Hundreds of learners could be forced to join different secondary schools from January 2027 if Parliament approves a proposal to limit the number of students each school can admit. The plan is aimed at easing overcrowding in popular schools while ensuring learners are spread more fairly across all categories of public secondary schools.
Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo has tabled a motion seeking to require the Ministry of Education, together with relevant government agencies and stakeholders, to introduce admission limits based on school classification.
The proposal recommends that Cluster One (C1) schools admit a maximum of 10 streams, Cluster Two (C2) schools eight streams, Cluster Three (C3) schools five streams and Cluster Four (C4) schools three streams. Every stream would be limited to no more than 40 learners.
C1 schools are former national schools that mainly operate as well-equipped boarding institutions with competitive academic programmes. C2 schools are former extra-county schools that admit learners from different regions. C3 schools mainly consist of former county schools serving learners within counties, while C4 schools are largely community day schools found within sub-counties.
Data released by the Ministry of Education in December last year shows there are 204 public schools in Cluster One, 692 in Cluster Two, 1,373 in Cluster Three and 7,234 in Cluster Four.
Gisairo believes the proposed admission limits will help solve the long-standing problem of congestion in secondary schools by creating a more balanced distribution of learners across the country.
“If we take 400 Grade 10 learners in 2027, 2028 and 2029, it means in only three years, all schools in all clusters will have an even number of learners and that will go a long way in addressing the congestion question in schools have been listed as one of the causes of school unrest,” Mr Gisairo said.
According to the MP, the current admission system has left some schools with more than 4,000 learners while others struggle to attract even 10 students.
He said many schools in rural areas have been unfairly judged because of poor infrastructure rather than the quality of teaching offered there.
“Schools in the village are deemed to be bad because they lack infrastructure, not that they don't have qualified teachers. You give such schools resources and they will thrive and we will see many students start streaming in such schools because with resources, there will be a fair playing ground. This idea of telling us that C1 schools are better is not true,” Gisairo said.
He further claimed that some schools, especially those in the C1 category, admit learners beyond their capacity in order to attract more government capitation.
“We need to stop schools from being centres of business and turn them into centres of excellence that they were meant to be,” Mr Gisairo said.
The legislator says schools seeking to enrol more than 1,200 learners should first prove they have enough facilities, including adequate dormitories, spacious playing fields and other infrastructure to support the larger population.
His motion also proposes a targeted programme to improve infrastructure in C3 and C4 schools. The upgrades would include classrooms, laboratories, ICT hubs, boarding facilities, sanitation and other amenities to reduce pressure on schools in the C1 and C2 categories.
“The government should implement a targeted and accelerated infrastructure upgrade programme in C-3 and C-4 schools, including classrooms, laboratories, ICT hubs, boarding sanitation and amenities to achieve infrastructure standardisation across all categories of schools, safeguard the quality of education and systematically eliminate overcrowding in C-1 and C-2 schools,” reads the motion.
The proposal also seeks changes to the capitation formula so that funding reflects the infrastructure capacity of schools. It argues that schools should receive fair and proportional funding to encourage more balanced enrolment across all categories.
“Why for instance, should we send Sh100 million to Alliance school for building a library, why not send such an amount to village schools where it can build over 10 laboratories? Posed Gisairo.
Gisairo said reducing the number of learners in every stream would also allow teachers to interact with students more effectively and provide better guidance.
If the proposal is adopted, C1 schools will not be allowed to admit more than 400 Grade 10 learners. Any learner admitted above that number will not receive a Nemis number and the school will not receive capitation for that learner.
“Any student above the provided 400 for the C1 category will not get the Nemis number and therefore won’t get capitation for that respective school. It will be deemed that he has enrolled in a private school,” Gisairo said.
Nemis is the unique identification number assigned to every learner in the country.
Gisairo insists that Kenya has enough secondary schools and that the real challenge lies in how learners are distributed among them. The motion is expected to be debated later this month when the National Assembly resumes sittings after the short recess.