The Ministry of Education moved to calm growing anxiety among parents and learners amid confusion, technical failures, and mounting frustration marking the release of Grade 10 senior school placements for candidates who sat the inaugural 2025 Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA).
Earlier, the ministry announced that senior school placements for the first cohort under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system would be released between December 15 and December 19, 2025.
However, parents and learners were left stranded by the promised deadline, Friday, December 19, as they were unable to access placement results through official channels.
Grade 10 placements portal failures and failed SMS attempts
Since Monday, parents have been attempting to check placements by sending candidates’ assessment numbers to the SMS short code 22263, as directed by the ministry. Instead of receiving school placement details, many consistently got an automated message notifying them that the process is still in progress.
“Dear learner, the placement results for Grade 10 senior school are in progress. You will be informed when ready for checking. Thank you.”
Later in the evening, some parents reported receiving altered responses — or no response at all — despite multiple attempts.
The situation sparked widespread anger, particularly among parents who said they were charged Ksh30 per SMS despite not receiving any placement information.
“Dear learner, the requested Info is unavailable or Assessment No does not exist. Confirm that your Assessment Number is accurate,” another response to a parent read.
Several parents admitted to sending multiple messages out of desperation, raising concerns that millions of shillings could have been deducted nationwide with “nothing to show for it.”
“CS for Education promised Grade 10 Senior School placements would be out on Friday. I have checked my daughter’s placement over 10 times, like a million other parents. The system is inaccessible, millions of shillings minted from the bureaucratic delay and the KJSEA frustration,” said Ali AwDoll.
A fact check by The Kenya Times confirmed that the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) portal, another official channel, also remained largely inaccessible to many users as of Saturday, December 20, morning.
While some parents could view their children’s KJSEA results, the senior school placement section was either unresponsive or missing altogether.
PS Bitok cites technical issue
Speaking to the Daily Nation, on Friday, December 19 night, Principal Secretary for Basic Education Prof Julius Bitok said the placement exercise itself had already been completed, insisting that the delay was purely technical.
“The results have come out. The placement has been done. We are only working on the integration with Safaricom,” Prof Bitok told Nation, adding that the ministry was finalising the process and that parents would begin receiving placement information “within hours.”
Also Read: Senior School Placements for Grade 10 Released; How to Check
He explained that the delay was caused by system maintenance linked to integration with the mobile service provider and noted that placements for learners in special needs schools had already started being released.
On the controversial SMS charges, PS Bitok dismissed claims that parents were being billed without receiving results.
“The messages are not going through, and if you are not getting any result, your money is not being deducted. You are not being charged — the charges only apply once a placement message has been successfully delivered,” he said.
CS Ogamba speaks
The confusion deepened on Friday after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, while presiding over the 58th Kenyatta University graduation ceremony, assured the nation that the wait was over.
“These students who are being transitioned to Grade 10 by January 2026 are being placed today. And by noon today they will start checking to know which schools they are going to,” CS Ogamba said.
Also Read: Full List of National Schools in Kenya for Grade 10 Students
He added that the learners are expected to transition to universities in 2029, underscoring the historic nature of the placement exercise.
But as noon passed and the day wore into late evening, many parents were still unable to access placement results. Ogamba later told the Daily Nation that a team at the ministry was working to align systems with the mobile phone service provider to enable release of the results.
Despite the assurances, the ministry has yet to issue a comprehensive public statement explaining the exact cause of the delay, further fuelling speculation and frustration.
The placement marks the transition of 1.13 million learners, the first cohort to complete junior secondary school under the CBE framework, into senior secondary education. Learners are expected to report to senior secondary schools on January 12, 2026.
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I’ve spent a lot trying to access the same but!!!!!!
Selection of senior school
To see the students school senior replacement