Starehe Boys’ Centre and Starehe Girls’ Centre have issued a joint notice to parents and guardians regarding the ongoing Grade 10 admission process for 2026.
In a statement on Sunday, December 21, the institutions stated that they have received multiple inquiries from parents and guardians of Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) candidates who believe they may have been selected to join Starehe Boys’ or Starehe Girls’.
They explained that admission decisions are made independently by each centre and are primarily based on the assessed level of need, as captured through mandatory application forms completed by candidates.
"The Starehe Boys' and Girls Centres have received inquiries from parents and guardians of KJSEA candidates who have received information that they have been selected to join these schools.
"Admission to both schools is determined by each Centre based on: need, assessed from information in the Yellow Form for the Boys' Centre, and the Blue Form for the Girls' Centre that each candidate must complete. Need is the primary basis for admission. Our charters require that 70% of the students admitted to the Starehe Schools be from needy backgrounds, admitted on sponsorship determined by their assessed degree of need," the statement read.
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In addition to need, the centres noted that several other factors are considered during the selection process to ensure fairness, academic suitability, and national representation.
"Selection of Starehe as their preferred school in the appropriate category; KJSEA Examination Performance vis-a-vis the selected pathway; and Regional balance to ensure the qualifying candidates admitted represent all counties of Kenya," the statement added.
The institutions further revealed that the finalization of admissions is dependent on candidate data from the Ministry of Education, which is necessary to complete the process in line with their mandate.
"The two Centres are working with the Ministry of Education to obtain the requisite data for candidates that applied to join both Starehe Schools, to enable us complete the selection process in a manner consistent with our mandate," the statement further read.
The centres acknowledged the ministry’s cooperation and confirmed that assurances have been given regarding the timely release of the required information.
"The Ministry has assured us that this data will be provided expeditiously to facilitate the process. We thank the Ministry for their support over many decades in safeguarding the centrality of need in the selection process for the Starehe Centres, providing early access to examination results for the candidates who select the Starehe Centres to give us time for our elaborate selection processes," the statement continued.
Starehe Boys’ Centre and Starehe Girls’ Centre appealed for patience from parents and guardians, assuring them that successful candidates will be contacted once the process is concluded.
"We recognise the anxiety caused as we work to resolve the matter, and appeal for patience. Once the process is completed in the coming days, the Centres will contact those that have been admitted to provide further guidance," the statement concluded.
This comes days after the Ministry of Education released the Grade 10 senior school placements for learners who sat the 2025 KJSEA, ending days of anxiety among parents and students.
On Friday, December 19, candidates transitioning to senior secondary school gained access to their placement results.
The ministry confirmed that the automated placement system is now fully operational after earlier technical delays that had left many parents frustrated.
During the release of the 2025 KJSEA results last week, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba outlined the criteria used for placing learners in senior schools and learning pathways.
The Grade 9 assessment score, which determines placement, is calculated using a weighted formula where 20 percent comes from the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), another 20 percent from School-Based Assessments conducted in Grades 7 and 8, and 60 percent from the summative assessment administered at Grade 9.
Ogamba noted that placements are guided by both learner performance and their selected senior school learning pathways.
