President William Ruto has criticized former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over remarks suggesting that the best schools in the Mt Kenya region should be reserved for students from the area.
Speaking on Thursday, January 8, in Uasin Gishu, President Ruto called out Gachagua and urged him to keep tribal politics out of schools.
The Head of State described attempts to politicise Grade 10 school placements as desperate and harmful.
“They have even gone after our children in school. Do you want to divide children in school? How desperate can someone be? Let our children be,” President Ruto said.
The President emphasized that all students, regardless of their ethnic background, deserve equal treatment in the education system.
“Those children are Kenyans. Whatever community they come from, they are children of Kenya,” President Ruto added.
This comes days after Gachagua alleged that learners from the Mt Kenya region were being unfairly disadvantaged in the ongoing grade 10 school placement exercise.
The DCP party leader proposed that students from Mt. Kenya be given preference when it comes to admission to top schools in the region.
“Other people are being brought to our schools here, like Mang’u, Alliance, and other top schools, while our children are being placed in lower-ranked schools despite having higher grades,” Gachagua said.
“There is total confusion in the education system. Parents do not know what to do, yet the President is claiming he wants to take us to Singapore,” He added.
This comes as the Ministry of Education is conducting the second phase of the Grade 10 placement revision exercise.
The Education Ministry gave learners who are dissatisfied with their placement results an opportunity to apply for revisions, with the exercise running until January 9.
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