Grade 10 placement revision dilemma as 7-day window falls within holidays

Grade 9 candidates at Kakamega primary school. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

For parents whose children require revisions to their Grade 10 placement, the situation has become a dilemma piled on another dilemma.

Many parents are scrambling to revise their children’s placements within the seven-day window provided by the Ministry of Education, even as critical support systems remain largely unavailable during the holiday period.

The Ministry of Education provided a seven-day revision window for Grade 10 placements, which started on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, and will run through Tuesday, December 30, 2025.

During this period, Cabinet Secretary for Education Julius Ogamba affirmed that parents, guardians, and learners would have an opportunity to request changes where necessary before placements are finalised, using an online portal.

“This window allows parents and learners to review the initial senior school placement and request changes where necessary before placements are finalised,” Ogamba said while announcing the exercise.

However, the timing of the revision window has raised concern among parents. Junior secondary school teachers and head teachers, who were expected to assist learners and parents during the revision exercise, broke for the Christmas holidays on Wednesday, leaving many families stranded. Several parents say they were unable to revise school choices before teachers left for their holiday break.

Currently, many teachers, including head teachers, are still on holiday. This has heightened anxiety among parents who fear that their children may be locked into unsuitable placements, some of which are located far from home or designated as day schools despite long travel distances.

James Mongare, a parent living in Mowlem Estate in Nairobi, is among those expressing frustration after his son was placed in a remote day school in Kiambu County.

“I live in Mowlem Estate, and my child was called to a school I never heard of. In fact, it is a day school which is not even on Google. I have been waiting for the revision link to be activated to no avail. Instead, each time I open the link, what I get is my school’s placement result with no option for revision,” Mongare disclosed to The Standard.

“I tried calling my son’s class teacher, who said he is in ushago for holidays.”

A similar predicament faces Mary Akinyi, another concerned parent whose daughter was placed in a day school in Mombasa, despite the family residing in Umoja, Nairobi.

“I just don’t know what to do. I hear only teachers are supposed to do it, yet they are on holiday season, and the deadline is fast approaching,” Akinyi told The Standard.

For some parents, efforts to seek help directly from education offices have also proven futile. Yuvinalis Wambua, whose Grade 10 child requires a transfer from a school he did not select, says repeated attempts to contact education officials have failed.

“Each time I call the number to air my concerns, no one picks it,” Wambua said, admitting, “honestly, I am devastated.”

The writer attempted to reach ministry officials for clarification on the placement revision process, but calls went unanswered for the better part of Friday, compounding parents’ anxiety as the deadline drew closer.

Parents are now urging the ministry to clarify procedures, activate revision links, and consider extending the deadline to avoid disadvantaging learners affected by holiday disruptions.