Schools on the spot for selling Form One admission letters

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is investigating more than 20 secondary schools in the North Rift over allegations of selling Form One admission letters.

A majority of the schools under probe are national and extra-county schools, and most of them prestigious schools in the region, a senior detective involved in the investigations revealed to the Nation.

“Investigations are at an advanced stage. Soon some notorious principals will be arraigned in court,” the officer who requested to stay anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter told the Nation.

Most of the schools under probe are in Nandi, Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties, all in the North Rift region.

The Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) National has come to the defence of the affected schools. Kessha Chairman Willy Kuria said the slots are given free of charge.

“It would be unfortunate to deny deserving students Form One slots and sell them. But since I took the headship of the association I have never heard of such cases, this is news to me. If there is, then it is an isolated case,” said Mr Kuria.

However, Mr Kuria said the truth will come out once the investigations are over.  

During the last cohort of Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (2023) under the 8-4-4 education system, Kabianga High School, Nanyuki High School and Pangani Girls High School were the most sought-after schools by students seeking to join Form One according to the analysis of 2023 placement results.

Others were Kapsabet Boys, Alliance Girls, Maseno and Nakuru High Schools. 

Pangani Girls was the most sought-after secondary school among female candidates for the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, with 144, 542 seeking places in the giant national school, however only 384 girls were placed in the Nairobi city institution.

In an interview with the Nation, Education Cabinet Secretary Mr Ezekiel Machogu said anyone selling Form 1 slots, particularly for National and Extra County schools can easily be nabbed because the selection and placement system is computerised.

He lauded the adoption of an electronic system in the Form One selection and placement process saying it boosted efficiency, transparency and accountability.

The CS said it is easier to track and audit the decisions taken to ensure they are based on merit, equity, pupils’ preferences and availability of school places.

“So schools will get names of those who have been selected to join their institutions. But in case of replacement, or a principal tries to sell the spaces, parents should have reported to the Deputy or County Director of Education,” said the CS.

The CS said no case has been brought to his Ministry for action.

“We are now in March, Form Ones reported to schools almost two months ago, and have settled, in case there was any case it should have been reported immediately for a probe. But how do you investigate corruption if there are two people involved, the giver (Parent) and the receiver (Principal)?” he wondered.

However, he said it takes two to tango’.

He said EACC should have laid a trap, and used treated money to nab the corrupt education officials and arrest them.

“But whom will you arrest now? It’s over two months since the selection was done. But I am not aware of the matter,” said the CS. 

Mr Machogu said Kenyans must be sensitised on how to report corrupt education officials to DCI and EACC for probe.

On the other hand, a Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) official, Ms Lynette Khamadi accused parents of maligning principals in the illegality.    

Ms Khamadi said at times some of the letter-selling scandal may not be emanating from principals but the support staff.

The union official accused support staff of being behind the cases adding that they go behind the principal's back, download the letters and ‘sell’ the slots to unsuspecting parents. 

“But the problem should not be principals or secretaries who are now being accused of selling the papers, the problem is vested on the parents who want specific schools yet their children have not been admitted to those particular schools,” she told the Nation.

Ms Khamadi said some parents reject the schools where their children have been placed saying that they don’t perform well. 

“So they lure unsuspecting secretaries and principals and once offered slots they are told to pay school fees for assurance and then turn around maligning and accusing principals of selling the vacancies,” she added. 

Rather than punishing principals or secretaries, KUPPET says EACC and DCI should deal with the parents buying the slots.

“Did the principals call parents to go buy the slots? The parents wake up and travel to the specific schools seeking admission. Vacancies are never sold like potatoes in the streets, arrest those parents maligning principals,” insisted the union official. 

“Why are they declining the placements given by the Ministry of Education?” she wondered. 

This comes a week after, a Moi Girls Eldoret secretary was charged with a similar offence in an Eldoret court. She denied the charge and she was released on bond.

Kapsabet Girls is among the schools under probe in Nandi county, with claims that a parent was denied admission at the school, with investigators expected to establish whether her case involved a genuine or fake admission letter.

According to the county education director, the letter was fake, and upon interrogation of the parent, it was established that it was obtained from a cyber cafe.

A similar case was reported at St Joseph Cheptiret where it was alleged that a parent reported to the school with a fake admission letter. The affected parent alleged that she was given the letter at Jogoo House, the education ministry headquarters in Nairobi.

Three months ago, during the release of the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results, Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera urged the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to investigate rampant cases of admission letters being traded by rogue national high school principals.

A member of the National Assembly committee on education, Mr Nabwera claimed much-sought admission letters were being sold at between Sh100,000 and Sh150,000 to parents desperate to secure admission places for their children in leading schools.

The MP asked the TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia to move with speed and reign in on high school principals behind the alleged scam to restore sanity in the education sector.

He claimed he had evidence of two national schools in Western and North Rift regions where parents were asked to part with Sh100,000 to facilitate admission for their children in schools.

“I am willing and ready to produce evidence linking the principals involved in the trading of admission letters if called upon by the teacher’s employer, to help tame the vice from getting out of hand,” stated Mr Nabwera.

For some prestigious schools, normally in the national category, some parents part with as high as Sh250,000 to get form placements for their children.

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