2020 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidates will join Form One in July 2021 after the marking exercise is completed and selection exercise done.
PS for Early Learning and Basic Education Dr Julius Jwan last week however said the ministry is yet to settle for a specific date for admissions of learners to high school in July.
Education CS George Magoha yesterday said the marking of the 2020 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams is 35 per cent complete.
Speaking in Murang’a county as he supervised the opening of examination containers for the ongoing KCSE exams, Magoha said all measures have been put in place to ensure results are released in good time.
Click here to download Knec transport schedule for KCPE examiners in pdf
Both electronic and manual marking was underway and the council has engaged the services of 7,000 examiners.
A total of 1,191,725 candidates in 28,467 schools were registered to sit for KCPE exam.
Last week Jwan warned school heads against hiking fees without consulting the ministry when schools reopen.
He was speaking in Nakuru while presiding over the supervision of exams at Harambee Khalsa Primary School.
Nearly 1.2 million candidates wrote the 2020 KCPE exams after resuming school in October after the school calendar was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Schools were closed indefinitely in March 2020 when the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Kenya.
Since then, the country has been through three waves of the virus, with the third wave proving to be lethal.
In the last three weeks alone, thousands of infections have been reported with double-digit deaths.
The PS, also urged Kenyans to be sensitive especially when addressing young girls who wrote their exams while pregnant.
“Forcing them to name those who impregnated them will be contributing to their mental anguish”.
CS warn teachers on Exam irregularities
Education CS Prof. George Magoha issued a stern warning to school heads plotting to aid Form Four candidates cheat in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education(KCSE) examinations.
Magoha on Monday singled out a school in western Kenya where he said the principal is trying to use ‘experts’ to sit examinations for the candidates.
Without mentioning the name of the school, the CS said they have some information that the school head has removed teachers from their servant quarters and brought in some experts who get papers which are smuggled from examination rooms, fill the answers and the papers taken back.
“The information is worrying and there are officers on the ground who are pursuing the matter. We will get the principal once the information is found to be true. The school is a popular one and usually performs well in national examinations,” Magoha noted when he supervised distribution of exam papers at Kenol in Murang’a.
He warned the officers manning administration of the KCSE exams, saying the government is keen to deliver examinations which reflect the true capabilities of the learners.
“Even in HomaBay County we are investigating allegations of irregularities where some examination officers are said to work in cahoots with teachers to try to assist candidates in answering question papers. The truth of the matter will be known soon,” the CS added.
Magoha further said no officer who is manning the examination is supposed to have a phone at the centers.
He stated that in case of an emergency, a phone will be provided for the centre manager to make a call.
“As stated earlier, no one should have a phone at the examination centre. Use of phones can assist in cheating of the ongoing examinations. So all involved officers should adhere to this directive,” Magoha said.
He reiterated that transportation of examination papers should be done by government vehicles or school buses but not personal cars.
“Government has many vehicles which can be used to deliver examination papers. We don’t want to hear of a case where a private car is used to transport the papers. Private schools can use their buses and every Centre manager must be accompanied by two police officers as security,” the CS said.
He added that following the President’s directive on closing of learning institutions as a way to combat the spread of coronavirus, international schools are not spared and they should adhere to the directive.
“International schools which are not administering KCSE should close and let the learners go home. The President’s directive is to all learning institutions including private and public,” said Magoha.
