Education Cabinet Secretary Migos Ogamba, on January 21, confirmed that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) plans to transfer teachers following the government’s move to close schools struggling to attract students, particularly Grade 10 students.
CS Ogamba made the announcement during the Elimu Mashinani forum at Lavington Primary School, citing enrolment data as the basis for the decision.
The CS explained that Grade 9 students are given a choice of schools for Grade 10, and that the Ministry of Education only facilitates student placement. Schools that fail to receive sufficient student selections are at risk of closure.
“There would be no point in having a school with 10 children where you have a headmaster, you have a classroom, you have a watchman, you have a teacher. It doesn’t make sense,” he stated.
Grade 10 Transition Rate and Teacher Redeployment
According to CS Ogamba, the government will use 100 per cent transition data to identify schools with low enrolment.
Teachers from these schools will be redeployed to institutions where their services are needed to ensure staffing levels are appropriate.
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The Ministry emphasised that national standards and learning outcomes will be maintained even as staff and students are reallocated.
CS Ogamba added that maintaining schools with very low enrolment is inefficient, as it entails operating costs for staff and facilities serving very few learners.
The TSC’s action is expected to balance teacher distribution across schools and optimise resource allocation.
Ogamba On Closure for Schools With Zero Grade 10 Enrolment
The Cabinet Secretary explained that the placement system is student-driven, noting that the Ministry of Education does not assign learners to schools but rather facilitates students’ choices.
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“Some schools are saying they have not received a single applicant. The policy is that students choose schools; the ministry does not choose schools for students.
If no student has chosen your school, what can the ministry do? There are things we must do differently. Some schools will have to be closed,” Ogamba stated.
He raised concerns about the heavy concentration of demand in a small number of elite institutions, noting that tens of thousands of learners routinely compete for places in schools with limited capacity, and argued that this justifies the need to devolve top-performing schools.
“50,000 students want to join a school that can only admit 700 learners. What is so difficult about reproducing 1,450 schools of this nature in our wards so that every ward has a school with the facilities and standards of the institutions everyone wants to attend? We will ensure there are super schools in every ward,” he added.
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