Nairobi News

The last crop of Grade Eight candidates under the 8-4-4 system of education eagerly awaiting their secondary school placements after completing their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations are facing an unexpected hurdle.

The Ministry of Education’s website and web app, crucial for accessing these results, are currently experiencing technical difficulties, leaving parents and candidates in suspense.

The Ministry of Education had earlier provided a link on its website for parents and candidates to enter the student’s index number and name to access the Form One placement results.

However, those seeking this vital information are now confronted with an obstacle, as both the website and the web app are sporadically inaccessible.

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Some users are experiencing longer load times, while some are getting error messages.

Attempts to check the official Ministry of Education website led to a “500 Internal Server Error,” while accessing the Kemis web app yielded a message stating, “This site can’t be reached. kemis.education.go.ke took too long to respond.”

These error messages suggest potential maintenance or server issues, which could be attributed to high traffic or technical difficulties.

The Ministry of Education has yet to release an official statement addressing the technical glitches.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu in a statement on December 18, he highlighted the transformation in the Form One selection and placement process and the shift from a manual and decentralized approach to a streamlined and digitised system.

He described the drawbacks of the previous manual method, as “resource-intensive, time-consuming, and susceptible to corruption”.

“Thanks to the advancements in technology and the Ministry’s full adoption of digital systems, the process has undergone a significant transformation. Nowadays, a candidate can find out where they have been placed with a click of a button as soon as the results are announced,” the CS said in a statement.

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CS Machogu assured the public that the placement exercise would be conducted in a free and fair manner, ensuring that each pupil was placed in a school that best suited his or her abilities.

He reiterated that every pupil who scored above 400 marks would have the opportunity to join a national school.

With a total of 136 national schools in the country, every district is guaranteed at least two national schools.

This means that the 8,523 candidates who scored over 400 marks in the 2023 KCPE results will secure places in these top-ranked institutions, with the highest scorer achieving an impressive 428 marks.

During the KCPE registration process, students choose their preferred schools. They are required to select four national schools and three out-of-county schools during the placement process.

Candidates can access their results and download joining instructions online. Upon obtaining the joining instructions, candidates are required to present the letter to the head teacher of the primary school where they took their KCPE Examination for authentication.

Subsequently, the admitting school’s principal will verify the letter. Principals are urged to ensure that the presented letters belong to learners strictly on their selection list.

Both Primary and Secondary Schools can retrieve their selection lists from the NEMIS platform.

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The admission process for Form One students will also be conducted online through NEMIS. The Ministry has introduced a reporting module for principals in both public and private schools to facilitate the online relay of each learner’s admission.

This system will provide real-time data on admission and reporting trends, streamlining decision-making processes.

Principals bear the responsibility of ensuring the accuracy, security, and integrity of their school data on the NEMIS platform.

All Form One learners for the 2024 academic year are expected to report on January 15, 2024.