The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Kilifi branch teachers’ association has backed a proposal to allow sick students taking national exams to be nursed until they recover, rather than having the exams administered in hospital.
The proposal was made by Julius Melly, chairman of the National Assembly’s Education Committee, who stated that it is unfair to burden an ailing student who has been hospitalized with exams, arguing that the candidates can be given supplementary exams after recovering.
“Some students may be sick and some girls may have given birth. We need to come up with a better policy. You can’t give exams to a sick person in hospital. You can’t give exams to someone who has just given birth. We’re talking to them about the remedies for this and looking at a recourse to do additional testing in the future,” Melly said during a visit to Mitihani House early September.
“It is wrong to give an examination to a sick person: someone who had an operation and is on medication. It’s unfair, unkind, inhumane, but in terms of the timetable, I don’t think it’s going to happen this year, but we’ve given them a directive on that
Opollo K’Opollo, chairman of the KUPPET Kilifi Teachers branch association, backed the proposal, saying that many students who become ill during exams find it difficult to complete their exams in hospital wards.
At the same time, the chairman has asked the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) board to put in place adequate strategies to ensure that national examinations reach students on time, as the country is expected to experience El-Nino rains.
This year, three national examinations will be administered: the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) for Grade 6 students, the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
The KCSE exams are set to begin on October 23 and end on November 24, with rehearsals beginning on October 19.
