Focus shifts to KCSE candidates as final KCPE exams draw to a close
Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang’ addresses KCPE and KPSEA candidates from Ngata Primary School in Nakuru County on Monday.
The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations finally came to an end on Wednesday, November 1, after 39 years.
The country is now embarking on a new journey with the introduction of the Kenya Primary School Examination Assessment (KPSEA).
The conclusion of the KCPE and KPSEA examinations paves the way for commencement of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.
The written examinations for common papers will begin on Monday next week. The exams will run until November 24. Practical and oral exams for some electives have been going on after the candidates were taken through rehearsals on October 19.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang’ on Wednesday November 1 said candidates who sat the KCPE exams and KPSEA would receive their results before the Christmas festivities.
He said there were minimal cases of malpractice in the exams.
“I want to assure everyone that we are moving straight into the marking process. We will prioritise marking the KCPE papers so that by the time we reach Christmas, parents will have already received admission information for their children, allowing them to adequately prepare for their transition to Form One, to mobilise the resources and adequate time for those who will apply for scholarships,” Dr Kipsang’ said.
He said this year recorded a notable reduction in pregnancy cases among candidates.
“The empowerment we are giving to our parents is bearing fruit. We are happy that we are reducing this menace of teenage pregnancies,” Dr Kipsang’ said.
The PS emphasised that no one will be excluded during the transition to the next education level.
In Trans Nzoia County, a Grade Six candidate at Kiungani Primary School sat his exams at Kitale County Hospital after being shot by police on Monday evening.
Fidelis Mulongo, 14, who was shot in his right hand at the controversial Tawai farm in Kiminini, Trans Nzoia County, suffered a fracture and will undergo surgery today.
According to the boy’s grandmother, the minor had just returned home after sitting his Day One KPSEA exams and she requested him to go and cut grass at the neighbouring Eldoret Express farm to feed the family cow when the shooting happened.
Kiminini OCPD John Onditi admitted that the candidate was hit by a rubber bullet, saying he was among the intruders who had gone to steal fresh maize at the farm owned by businessman Muigai Thungu.
“Our officers indeed fired rubber bullets and the operation against the intruders was justifiable,” Mr Onditi said.
In Kwale County, the police arrested an exam supervisor in a suspected case of malpractice.
According to a police report, a Kenya National Examinations Council monitoring officer came across a KCPE 2023 Kiswahili Lugha Paper illegally circulating online on the second day of the examinations.
The serial number on the paper was later traced to Albadru Integrated School, a private school being hosted at Munje Primary examinations centre in Kingwede location, Msambweni.
“It was established that indeed the Kiswahili Lugha paper seen on social media was actually the spare paper allocated to Albadri Integrated School. Hence the supervisor on duty Bakari Enzi was arrested for the offence of disclosing the contents of the examination papers without authority,” stated the report.
Reporting by Mercy Simiyu, Siago Cece and Evans Jaola
