Into Grade 1
The usual entry point, at about six years old, after two years of pre-primary. Bring the birth certificate and the clinic card.
Enrolment
BringingachildtoMadaraka.
There is no application fee, no form to buy and no agent who can help you. Come to the office with the child and the papers, and talk to a person.
Who can join
Any child in this catchment, at any point in the nine years.
Madaraka is a public school, so a place here is not something a family has to win. Most of our learners live in the estate or the streets immediately around it and walk to the gate.
Transferring in
A child can move in at any grade. You will need a release or transfer letter from the previous school, and the report that goes with it.
Into junior school
Grades 7 to 9 sit inside the primary school under the current curriculum, so a child moving up does not have to move out.
Entry ages and the transfer requirement are the national rules for
Kenyan public primary schools, not this school's own policy. Whether
there is space in a particular class in a particular term is a question
only the office can answer.
How it works
Four steps, and none of them cost anything.
If anyone asks you for money to secure a place at a public school, they are not acting for the school. Tell the office.
Come to the office
Weekday mornings are best, during term. Bring the child with you — a lot of what happens at this stage is simply the school meeting them.
Bring the papers
The list is below. If something is missing, come anyway and say so; a missing document is a problem to be solved, not a reason to turn a child away.
Placement
The school confirms which grade the child joins, from their age and their previous reports, and tells you which class and what they will need.
Starting
You will be told a start date, the uniform, and what the lunch programme costs this term. Then the child starts.
Confirm the exact process with the office
What to bring
The papers.
| Document | Who needs it |
|---|---|
| The child's birth certificate | Every child. This is the one that matters most — it sets the age and the grade. |
| Immunisation or clinic card | Children entering Grade 1 or pre-primary. |
| Transfer or release letter | Any child moving from another school. |
| The last school reportand assessment records | Any child transferring in, at any grade. |
| Parent or guardian's national ID | The adult enrolling the child. |
| Passport photographs | Usually asked for. Bring two. |
This is the standard list for a public primary school in Kenya. It
has not been confirmed against Madaraka Primary's own requirements —
ring the office before you travel, or ask the assistant to have
someone call you.
What it costs
Nothing to learn here. Some things to buy.
Being straight about this is the whole point of putting it on a page. "Free" schooling in Kenya is genuinely free of tuition, and genuinely not free of everything.
Free
- Tuition, for every grade
- The application — there is no form to buy
- Sitting national assessments here
- Teaching by TSC-employed staff
Families usually pay for
- Uniform
- The lunch and feeding programme
- Exercise books and personal stationery
- Occasional trips and activities
The school's public record confirms there is no tuition fee and that a
feeding programme is funded by parent contribution. The specific amounts
change by term and are not published — the office will tell you exactly
what this term's come to. No figures are invented on this site.
Questions
The ones parents actually ask.
Are there really no school fees?
No tuition fee, and no fee structure to send you. Madaraka is a public school and free primary education is national policy. Families do contribute towards things like uniform and the lunch programme, and the office will tell you what those come to this term.
Does my child have to live in Madaraka Estate?
Most of our learners live in the estate or the streets around it, and they walk. Whether there is a place for a child from further away depends on the space in that particular class — ask the office.
Can my child join in the middle of the year?
Children transfer in throughout the year. Bring the release letter from the previous school and the reports that go with it, and the school will place the child in the right grade.
What if I do not have the birth certificate yet?
Come and say so. A missing document is a problem to be solved rather than a reason to keep a child out of school, and the office will tell you what can stand in while you get it.
Do you take children with disabilities?
Please talk to the office directly and describe what your child needs, so that the right conversation happens early rather than late. This site cannot answer for what support is in place on the compound today.
Is there a boarding option?
No. Madaraka is a day school — every learner goes home at the end of the day.
Does the school run junior school, Grades 7 to 9?
Under the current curriculum junior school is domiciled in primary schools across the country, so a child does not move out at Grade 7. Whether every junior grade is running on this compound right now is worth confirming with the office.
Somebody is offering to get my child a place for money. Is that real?
No. Nobody can sell a place at a public school and nobody is authorised to collect money on the school's behalf for admission. If you are approached, please tell the office.
Ask the school
Still not sure? Ask, and leave your number.
The assistant answers from the school's own records and takes your name and number for the office when it cannot.
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