Parents who want to enrol their Grade 6 learners in private school for junior secondary have 369,948 slots to pick from.
The Ministry of Education has released a number of private schools accredited to offer Junior Secondary school.
The Kenya National Examinations Council opened the portal for the selection of schools for a period of two weeks.
According to a list sent to school heads, Nairobi County has the highest number of approved private schools.
Nairobi County has 142 schools followed by Kiambu County with 114 schools.
The list gives the number of classes in each school together with the classroom capacity, the number of students.
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Nairobi County has 60,359 junior secondary slots for students in private schools, followed by Kiambu with 22,665 slots.
A number of counties have fewer than 10 schools approved, which means more students in the selected counties for junior secondary will go to public schools.
Elgeyo Marakwet, Turkana, and Samburu counties have one school, while Narok and Kericho have two schools approved.
Education CS George Magoha, while releasing the guidelines for placement, said parents should select private schools they can afford.
“Parents shall meet the cost of learning in private schools as is the usual practice,” he said.
The placement bears the names of both public and private schools, but the Star is yet to receive the list of public schools.
“Selection of admission will be premised on principles of merit, affirmative action, choice of schools and institutions’ declared capacity,” Magoha said.
The outgoing CS said for a school to offer junior secondary, it should have a laboratory for sciences and also have storage cabinets.
Counties with between three to 20 schools are Baringo (8), Bomet (4), Bungoma (19), Busia (13), Embu (8), Isiolo (4), Kakamega (13), Kisii (4), Kwale (15), Laikipia (8) and Kwale (15).
Others are Lamu (4), Mandera (6), Marsabit (4), Migori (4), Muranga (15), Nandi (5), Nyamira (15), Nyandaruam (15), Nyeri (13), Siaya (18),Taita Taveta (8), Tharaka Nithi (12), Trans Nzoia (6) and Vihiga (7).
Counties with 20 to 100 schools approved to host JSS learners are Homa Bay (39), Kajiado (66), Kilifi (45), Kirinyaga (42), Kisumu (26) and Kitui (29).
Others are Machakos (55), Makueni (41), Meru (25), Mombasa (45), Nakuru (31) and Uasin Gishu (29.)
Summative assessment at the end of Grade 6 will be administered in five subjects, not 13 as earlier reports indicated.
The subjects have been clustered into five groups: English, Mathematics, Integrated Science, Creative Arts and Kiswahili.
Integrated Science contains Science and Technology, Agriculture, Home Science and Physical Health.
Creative Arts and Social Studies includes Social studies, Christian, Islamic and Hindu education, arts and crafts, and music.
Summative assessments contribute 60 per cent while the two school-based assessments contribute 20 per cent each.
The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment for transition to junior secondary will be administered from November 28.