In a radical policy shift that dismantles decades of education tradition, the Government has announced plans to devolve selected top-performing national schools to County Governments. The move is a desperate bid to manage the chaotic transition from Grade 9 to Grade 10.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba dropped the bombshell while admitting that the current infrastructure is overwhelmed. With the transition rate to Senior School currently stuck at 75%, thousands of learners are in limbo. The Ministry’s solution? Take the "National" out of some schools and hand them to Governors to manage local demand.

Breaking the "Alliance" Model

"We must be realistic," CS Ogamba told the press. "We cannot have students traveling from Turkana to Kwale for Grade 10 when we have capacity issues locally. Devolving these schools allows Counties to expand infrastructure faster than the National Ministry can."

This proposal effectively ends the quota system that allowed bright students from marginalized areas to access elite schools in central Kenya. Critics argue it will kill national integration, turning prestigious institutions into "village polytechnics." However, the Ministry insists that without this move, the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) pipeline will burst.

• The Infrastructure Gap: The government released KES 44 billion in December 2025 to aid the transition, but the classrooms simply aren't there. Devolving schools passes the burden of construction to County budgets.
• The 75% Crisis: 25% of Grade 9 finishers have not yet been placed in Grade 10. The "mop-up" exercise is failing because the prestigious schools are full, and parents are rejecting slots in Sub-County day schools.
• Quality Concerns: Teachers’ unions have immediately opposed the plan, fearing that County Governments, which have struggled to manage ECDEs and health centers, will run these academic giants into the ground.

A System in Flux

The transition to the 2-6-3-3-3 system was always going to be painful, but the current confusion is unprecedented. Parents are panicking as term dates approach with no admission letters in hand. By shifting responsibility to Counties, the National Government appears to be washing its hands of the placement headache.

As the debate rages, the Grade 9 cohort—the pioneers of CBC—remain the guinea pigs of a system that is being built as they fly it. The devolution of national schools marks the end of an era, and the beginning of a fragmented, uncertain future for Kenya’s secondary education.