Govt Speaks Amid Confusion, Uproar Over Postponed Grade 10 Placements.

By Webmaster Last updated Dec 21, 2025

When the Grade 10 senior school placements for candidates who took the first-ever 2025 Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) were released, the Ministry of Education took action to ease the growing anxiety among parents and students amid misunderstanding, technological difficulties, and growing discontent.

The government had declared that the first cohort of senior school places under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system would be made available between December 15 and December 19, 2025.

However, because they were unable to acquire placement results through formal methods, parents and students were left stuck by the promised deadline of Friday, December 19.

Grade 10 placements portal failures and failed SMS attempts

Since Monday, parents have been attempting to check placements by sending candidates’ assessment numbers to the SMS short code 22263, as directed by the ministry. Instead of receiving school placement details, many consistently got an automated message notifying them that the process is still in progress.

“Dear learner, the placement results for Grade 10 senior school are in progress. You will be informed when ready for checking. Thank you.”

Later in the evening, some parents reported receiving altered responses — or no response at all — despite multiple attempts.

The situation sparked widespread anger, particularly among parents who said they were charged Ksh30 per SMS despite not receiving any placement information.

“Dear learner, the requested Info is unavailable or Assessment No does not exist. Confirm that your Assessment Number is accurate,” another response to a parent read.

Several parents admitted to sending multiple messages out of desperation, raising concerns that millions of shillings could have been deducted nationwide with “nothing to show for it.”

“CS for Education promised Grade 10 Senior School placements would be out on Friday. I have checked my daughter’s placement over 10 times, like a million other parents. The system is inaccessible, millions of shillings minted from the bureaucratic delay and the KJSEA frustration,” said Ali AwDoll.

A fact check by Elimu Centre confirmed that the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) portal, another official channel, also remained largely inaccessible to many users as of Saturday, December 20, morning.

While some parents could view their children’s KJSEA results, the senior school placement section was either unresponsive or missing altogether.

PS Bitok cites technical issue

Speaking to the Daily Nation, on Friday, December 19 night, Principal Secretary for Basic Education Prof Julius Bitok said the placement exercise itself had already been completed, insisting that the delay was purely technical.

“The results have come out. The placement has been done. We are only working on the integration with Safaricom,” Prof Bitok told Nation, adding that the ministry was finalising the process and that parents would begin receiving placement information “within hours.”

He explained that the delay was caused by system maintenance linked to integration with the mobile service provider and noted that placements for learners in special needs schools had already started being released.

On the controversial SMS charges, PS Bitok dismissed claims that parents were being billed without receiving results.

“The messages are not going through, and if you are not getting any result, your money is not being deducted. You are not being charged — the charges only apply once a placement message has been successfully delivered,” he said.

CS Ogamba speaks

The confusion deepened on Friday after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, while presiding over the 58th Kenyatta University graduation ceremony, assured the nation that the wait was over.

“These students who are being transitioned to Grade 10 by January 2026 are being placed today. And by noon today they will start checking to know which schools they are going to,” CS Ogamba said.

He added that the learners are expected to transition to universities in 2029, underscoring the historic nature of the placement exercise.

But as noon passed and the day wore into late evening, many parents were still unable to access placement results. Ogamba later told the Daily Nation that a team at the ministry was working to align systems with the mobile phone service provider to enable release of the results.

Despite the assurances, the ministry has yet to issue a comprehensive public statement explaining the exact cause of the delay, further fuelling speculation and frustration.

The placement marks the transition of 1.13 million learners, the first cohort to complete junior secondary school under the CBE framework, into senior secondary education. Learners are expected to report to senior secondary schools on January 12, 2026.

Govt Speaks Amid Confusion, Uproar Over Postponed Grade 10 Placements.

Elimu Centre brings you the necessary materials that you can access in one click. We also publish News, Examinations, Mocks, KCSE Past Papers, Secondary Notes, Primary Resources, CBC resources. For more resources, call/WhatsApp us at +254705738367 or +254726641534.

Govt Speaks Amid Confusion, Uproar Over Postponed Grade 10 Placements.

Grade 10 placements portal failures and failed SMS attempts

PS Bitok cites technical issue

CS Ogamba speaks

Ads Blocker Detected!!!