'No child should be sent home for lack of uniform,' says Education CS Magoha

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has reiterated that no student should be sent home due to lack of school uniform.

Magoha said that student admissions should be done fairly with the intention of giving equal opportunity to all learners, as per President Uhuru Kenyatta's instructions.

The CS was speaking while overseeing the Form 1 admission process in Nyeri High School on Wednesday.

According to Magoha, if a student comes from a low-income family but receives a government scholarship, the school should provide uniforms and the cost should be deducted from the student's account.

"There is too much talk about these uniforms that is not necessary and as long as the child has arrived in school do not send them back home. The policy of President Uhuru Kenyatta's government is that every child must be at school," said Magoha.

"And if you have a completely indigent child who is from a very poor background, who is definitely going to get a scholarship, they should be admitted, if you have any uniform in the school you should give it so that when the money comes it will be deducted." 

Magoha urged county and regional administrators to use fair criteria when awarding scholarships to students, emphasizing that those who cannot afford to pay for their high school education should be given priority.

"For the sake of uniformity as one government, as you give away scholarships in their respective jurisdiction, can they select those children who cannot afford," noted Magoha.

"I plead with them to identify poorer children who have been admitted to good schools by affirmative action that these children do not drop out of school just because the fees to the schools they have been admitted is high than normal."

38,797 students from last year's class will attend National Schools, while 214,960 will attend Extra-County schools.

Another 2,045 students will go to special-needs schools, with 218, 456 reporting to county schools and 9,128 in refugee camps.

At the same time, 726,311 candidates will be reporting to sub-county schools.