The dawn of 2026 has brought not hope, but heartbreak for thousands of families now besieging Jogoo House, demanding answers for a placement system that seems to have gone rogue. Instead of celebrating the new year, parents are scrambling to salvage their children's education after a sudden, unprompted reshuffle of Senior School admissions.

At the heart of the crisis is an inexplicable administrative maneuver where Grade 10 students were quietly stripped of their admissions to prestigious senior schools and reassigned elsewhere, despite their parents never applying for transfers. With the reporting date set for January 12, 2026, the timing could not be more catastrophic.

System Failure or Silent Policy?

The confusion began to unfold on Tuesday, December 30, just 24 hours after the official review window had closed. Parents attempting to download admission letters for the upcoming term were met with a system that was either inaccessible or, more alarmingly, displayed entirely different institutions from the ones allocated weeks prior.

Reports indicate that the most egregious cases involve high-performing students initially placed in top-tier national and extra-county schools. These learners have now been relegated to different institutions without explanation, raising serious questions about the integrity of the Ministry of Education’s placement portal.

• December 29: Official review and transfer window closes.
• December 30: Portal glitches; unrequested transfers appear.
• January 1: Crowds gather at Ministry headquarters seeking redress.
• January 12: Deadline for students to report to Senior School.

The Cost of Confusion

For the average Kenyan household, this is not merely an administrative hiccup; it is a financial disaster. Many parents had already acted on the initial admission letters, paying non-refundable fees and purchasing school-specific uniforms and textbooks. In a struggling economy, the potential loss of these funds—often running into tens of thousands of shillings—is a blow many cannot absorb.

"We are stranded," one parent noted outside the Ministry offices, echoing the sentiments of hundreds who feel the system has betrayed their trust. The lack of clear communication from education officials has only fueled speculation that the portal may have been manipulated to accommodate back-door admissions, though no official evidence has yet surfaced to confirm this.

A Race Against Time

The transition to Senior School under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) was already a high-stakes logistical challenge. This latest debacle threatens to derail the start of the academic year for the pioneer Grade 10 cohort. Education analysts warn that unless the Ministry acts immediately to revert these unrequested transfers, schools could face a chaotic opening week characterized by overcrowding in some institutions and phantom students in others.

As the clock ticks toward January 12, the silence from the top floors of Jogoo House is deafening. Parents do not just need a portal reset; they need assurance that their children’s hard-earned spots are safe.