Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi on Thursday launched new Form One selection guidelines which are aimed at promoting equity, fairness and merit in the selection process.
In the proposals, candidates will choose from four clusters of national schools, as well as three county school clusters unlike before when they selected one per category.
In addition, the top five candidates of either gender in a sub-county will now get places in a national school of their choice, while positions in extra county schools will be shared in a ratio of 70:30 between public and private schools. According to Kaimenyi, the proposed guidelines will also ensure students with special needs are adequately catered for in the 25 special needs schools across the country.
"The policy is a deliberate effort by the government to ensure that pupils from poor families access top national schools," he said