The government has been forced to reopen the Grade 9 school selection process following a weekend of chaos, as the Competency-Based Education system’s first major placement test buckled under technical failures and widespread public outcry.

This unprecedented move casts a harsh spotlight on the readiness of the country’s new curriculum, leaving the families of over a million learners scrambling to secure their children's future amid a crisis of confidence in the automated placement system. The seven-day review window, announced by Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, is slated to begin Tuesday, December 23rd.

A System in Meltdown

The crisis unfolded over the weekend as the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) portal remained largely unresponsive. Anxious parents attempting to check placements via the official SMS code were met with frustrating error messages, forcing many to physically visit schools during the holidays seeking answers.

In a statement, PS Bitok acknowledged the widespread dissatisfaction. He noted that the review period, running until December 30th, will allow learners to adjust their school preferences through their Grade 9 institutions or county education offices. The ministry assured that an automated system will guide the review, matching preferences with performance and available school capacity.

High Scores, Baffling Placements

The technical meltdown compounded deeper frustrations with the placement outcomes themselves. Parents of high-scoring children reported finding them placed in sub-county day schools or in academic pathways they did not choose, triggering confusion over the system's logic. The ministry attributed the anomalies to several factors, including:

• Intense competition for limited slots in popular schools.
• Miscommunication between parents, learners, and school heads during the initial selection.
• Mismatches between chosen pathways and learners' final assessment results.

This marks the first major crisis for the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system, which is replacing Kenya's 44-year-old 8-4-4 structure. The transition has been fraught with challenges, with Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu earlier acknowledging a nationwide shortage of over 15,000 classrooms needed for Grade 9 learners in 2025.

As parents and learners navigate this seven-day olive branch, the Ministry of Education faces a monumental task: not just to fix a broken portal, but to restore faith in a curriculum that holds the future of a generation in its hands.