By ICT Reporter-The Ministry of Education has officially launched the e-enrollment platform for Form One placements in boarding schools across the country, providing a streamlined process for parents seeking schools for their children.
The Electronic Ministry Application Platform (eMAP) opened on November 1 and will remain active until December 31, allowing parents to apply for boarding school placements for the 2025 academic year. This system accommodates approximately 400,000 learners who sat for the 2024 Grade Seven examinations.
Taungana Ndoro, the Ministry’s Communications Director, urged parents to be prudent and decisive when selecting schools to avoid missing out on available vacancies.
“Boarding places have increased, as we now have over 11,000 schools nationally. However, parents should not assume that their child’s excellent grades guarantee placement at a preferred school,” said Ndoro.
He emphasized that parents should accept offers promptly rather than holding out for spots at more prestigious schools, warning that declining initial offers often leaves learners without any placement.
The eMAP system permits parents to apply to up to five boarding schools. While it offers flexibility to decline offers from schools lower on their priority list, this practice has led to challenges. Parents who decline multiple offers often find themselves with no remaining options, especially as boarding school spaces are limited.
Ndoro also highlighted the importance of aligning school choices with children’s academic abilities.
“Certain high-performing schools with limited boarding capacities, some as low as 80 vacancies, attract over 10,000 applications. This creates an unnecessary bottleneck,” he noted.
He reassured parents that sufficient non-boarding Form One vacancies are available for 2025 and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to ensuring every Grade Seven learner transitions to Form One.
The Government also announced plans to build more boarding facilities across provinces to accommodate the growing demand for spaces. The eMAP system, introduced in 2016, aims to enhance transparency in Form One placements, addressing past issues where some school heads conducted paid entrance tests despite having limited vacancies.
In a related development, the Government has initiated efforts to upgrade nearly 2,000 satellite schools to registered examination centers. This move seeks to improve educational access and equity, particularly for learners in resettlement areas who previously endured long, difficult commutes to registered centers, negatively impacting their performance.
Education stakeholders have welcomed these reforms, acknowledging their potential to offer fairer opportunities and reduce the strain on disadvantaged learners. As the system continues to evolve, the Ministry remains focused on creating a sustainable and inclusive educational environment for all learners.