Parents in Panic Mode as Ruto’s Education Policy Triggers Grade 10 Crisis

Thousands of parents across the country are facing uncertainty and frustration as they struggle to secure admission for their children into preferred senior secondary schools, following a controversial policy shift by the Ministry of Education.

The decision to strip school principals of the authority to approve placements has triggered confusion, delays, and growing concern over the government’s preparedness for the Grade 10 transition.

Under the new framework, placement decisions have been centralized, limiting the discretion previously exercised by school heads to admit learners based on capacity, special needs, or unique circumstances.

While the Ministry argues that the move is intended to enhance transparency and eliminate favoritism, education experts warn that the policy may have created a rigid system ill-equipped to respond to real-time challenges on the ground.

Parents report being sent from one office to another without clear guidance, as appeals and adjustment requests can no longer be resolved at the school level.

In many cases, learners have been posted to institutions far from home or to schools that do not align with their academic strengths or career pathways under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system.

With principals now powerless to intervene, families are left waiting for centralized responses that are often slow or unclear.

Education analysts argue that the policy undermines the practical role of principals, who best understand their schools’ capacities, infrastructure, and staffing levels.

They note that decentralized decision-making has historically helped ease placement bottlenecks, especially during transitions involving large learner populations. 

Removing that flexibility, experts say, risks paralyzing the system at a critical moment.

The situation is further complicated by the scale of the Grade 10 transition, which involves more than one million learners moving into senior secondary schools.

Experts point out that such a massive transition requires adaptive management rather than rigid central control. 

Without school-level discretion, even minor placement errors can snowball into nationwide disruption.

However, education stakeholders are urging the government to urgently review the policy, restore limited decision-making powers to principals, or establish fast-track appeal mechanisms.