Seventy per cent of the 1,036,220 candidates who sat the KCPE exam last year have reported to secondary schools.
The ministry of Education is concerned about the poor enrollment in Mombasa, Lamu, Kwale, Samburu, Isiolo and Tana River counties.
“This low enrollment rate is unacceptable at this point in the transition process. These special counties will, therefore, be the ministry’s point of intensive focus,” CS Amina Mohamed said in a statement.
Through the campaign, the ministry has prepared data packets bearing the names and locations of the students who are not in school.
“No child will be left behind and this data will be shared with local administrators who will team up with directors from the ministry in this final push,” the CS said.
“The Last Mile will address socio-cultural barriers to secondary education, national administrative arms will work with county education officials to ensure that no child is locked out of secondary education owing to factors removed from his/her ability to continue with learning.”
According to the current NEMIS data, 640 candidates have opted to repeat Standard Eight while 2,299 have joined vocational colleges.
A rapid analysis of the reasons for the failure to hit the 100 per cent admission mark shows that there have been challenges arising from teenage pregnancies, early marriages, insecurity and inhibitive cultural practices.
Others are indirect costs of secondary education and extreme poverty in households, especially in arid and semi-arid areas.