The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) is set to roll out electronic certificates (E-certificates) as part of broader strategy to crack down on certificate forgery.
This was revealed by KNEC chief executive officer David Njengere on Friday during the official launch of 2026 national examinations registration exercise.
KNEC will roll out the electronic certificate verification which will prevent any one who did not legitimately sit the exams from obtaining fake papers.
Education CS Julius Ogamba said the exercise will start to apply to all certificates issued from 2023.
“KNEC will be implementing a secure, efficient and environmentally sustainable electronic certificate system applicable to certificates issued from 2023,” said CS Ogamba.
He added that the digital platform will enable instant online verification of academic credentials issued by KNEC, making it difficult for fraudsters to present forged documents.
The service will be piloted by the end of this month (February). This comes as the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) remain with only two exam cycles before its phased out.
KNEC will begin registration of this year’s KCSE and KPSEA examinations on Monday.
Registration for KPSEA will run from February 16 to March 16, while KCSE registration will begin on the same date and end on March 31.
On the other hand, registration for KJSEA will start later on March 2 and also close on March 31, 2026.
At the same time, KNEC has introduced a system to eliminate registration errors that have previously locked out candidates from national assessments, while warning school heads against negligence when capturing learners’ details.
Parents will be allowed to confirm registration details during the April school holidays.
“We will provide a platform where parents can check whether the child has been registered, whether the names have been entered correctly. and whether the gender has been captured correctly,” Dr Njengere said.
CS Ogamba warned that inaccurate data can produce serious placement problems for learners.
He warned that institutions responsible for registration mistakes in 2026 will face consequences.
“For the 2026 cycle, we will iden-tify heads of institutions that willl have registration-related errors for appropriate disciplinary action by the Teachers Service Commission,” Ogamba said.
The reforms come as the first cohort of learners under the Competency Based Education system transitions to senior school, with the government reporting a 99 per cent transition rate.
“Following strategic measures by the government, including the direc-tive that no learner shall be denied admission on account of uniform or school fees, our transition to Grade 10 is nearing 99 per cent.” Ogamba said.
