The great school divide: Irony of congestion in Cluster 1 schools as day schools remain under-enrolled

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Cluster 1 senior schools face significant pressure from high learner populations, with a typical school having more than seven times the number of learners per class found in Cluster 4 schools, a new survey has found.

The pressure strains resources and is evident in the number of learners in individual streams. A typical Cluster 1 school has on average 60 learners per stream in Form Two, 56 in Form Three and 55 in Form Four, compared with 43, 40 and 40, respectively in Cluster 4 schools.

Schools have been re-categorised into clusters from the previous nomenclature of national, extra-county, county and sub-county schools.

The survey found that Cluster 1 schools had an average of 8.1 streams per class, compared with 4.7 in Cluster Two, 2.7 in Cluster Three and only 1.8 in Cluster Four.

Despite the congestion, Cluster 1 schools are better resourced, and their students stand a better chance of scoring better grades.

The survey found that a child attending a Cluster 1 senior school was more than eight times as likely to attain a mean grade of C+ and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education as one in a Cluster 4 school.

The 2026 Senior School Survey by Usawa Agenda examined 1,344 senior schools across the country in all categories (Cluster 1, Cluster 2, Cluster 3, Cluster 4, private schools, and special schools), where the primary respondents were the principals of the selected schools.

The findings come at a critical point in Kenya’s transition to competency-based education (CBE), with the report being the first senior school survey published after the first cohort of CBE learners joined senior school in January this year.

The report notes the first transition was less than seamless and highlights challenges associated with the placement of learners.

It shows that learners who attend Cluster 4 schools are more likely to drop out of school than those in Cluster 1 schools. The drop-out rate is 3.4 per cent in Cluster Four schools, which is the highest, while Cluster 1 has the lowest dropout rate, at 0.5 percent.

When examined by gender, mixed schools were found to have the highest dropout rate at 3.2 percent, followed by boy schools at 1.9 percent and girl schools at 1.1 percent.

Non-payment of school fees was highlighted as the major reason for absenteeism from school when learners are sent home for fees.

Cluster 1 schools also offer a wider range of subjects than other categories and therefore offer learners more choices while choosing senior school career pathways, pointing to differences in opportunities across school categories and gender.

Private schools have the smallest classes, with an average of about 30 learners per stream across Forms Two to Four.

The size of Cluster 1 schools is further illustrated by their examination populations. A typical Cluster 1 school presented 359 candidates for the 2024 KCSE examinations, compared with 73 candidates in a typical Cluster 4 school.

Despite the large learner populations, Cluster One schools remain significantly better equipped than lower-category schools in several areas.

For instance, 89.8 per cent of Cluster 1 schools have operational computer laboratories, compared with 18.6 per cent of Cluster 4 schools. Nine in 10 Cluster 1 schools also offer computer lessons, against only one in five Cluster 4 schools.

Similarly, 79.3 per cent of Cluster 1 schools have operational libraries, compared with only 29.1 per cent of Cluster 4 schools. They also have more than three times as many teachers per examined subject as Cluster 3 and 4 schools.

The report argues that the disparities demonstrate that Kenya’s senior school system remains unequal, with Cluster 1 schools generally better resourced while Cluster 4 and special schools face greater constraints.

The schools also have stronger health infrastructure. 89.1 per cent of Cluster 1 schools have a sick bay, sanatorium or school clinic, compared with just 4.6 per cent of Cluster 4 schools. Nearly all Cluster 1 schools—96.3 per cent—have medical personnel working in the school.

On safety, Cluster 1 schools perform better than other categories in several areas. They have the highest proportion of schools conducting fire drills and having designated fire assembly points, although the survey found that safety preparedness remains uneven nationally.

Cluster 1 schools offer an average of 15 examinable subjects, compared with 13 in Cluster Two, 12 in Cluster Three and 11 in Cluster Four.

The schools also recorded better outcomes in the regression analysis. A learner in a boarding school was more than two-and-a-half times as likely to attain C+ and above as one in a day school.

However, the report cautions against attributing the differences entirely to the school category because entry marks are strongly co-related with the type of school attended.

The average KCPE mark of candidates who sat the 2024 KCSE was 362 in Cluster 1 schools, compared with 242 in Cluster 4 schools.

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.