Education stakeholders have opposed the directives by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) regarding schools with less than 3o students for the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA).

KNEC had directed that schools with less than 30 candidates will not serve as examination centres and students will sit for their exams in the nearest public school.

Speaking to the media, the section of private school owners and parents in Migori County criticized the move stating that the order has greatly affected private schools which have few students registered for KPSEA.

Roseline Awino Misori, the Director of Rose Hill Academy in Migori County said the schools strive to reach the 30 candidates but fail. Misori added that private schools should be merged with another private school and not a public school.

“When you have for example 21 candidates, you are forced to go and do the exams in another center. There are complaints, and should they merge centres, private schools should be merged and public schools with public schools,” she said.

Besides, Misori argued that the children will go through culture shock which will affect their performance when they walk for many kilometers to sit for examinations in a crowded environment.

“But our children are used to our environment which is conducive, when you take them to another school, they are going to go through culture shock,” Misori said.

“I wish KNEC considers that because these are Kenyan citizens who have also benefited from the Councils’ privilege of having been registered as candidates of this country.”

Parent’s CBC Burden & Exam Concerns

Geophrey Otieno, a parent, slammed the government for failing in the implementation of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).

Otieno said the parents faced a big challenge to cope with the learning areas in CBC some of which are computerized, require a lot of research and learning materials.

“We are being told that our kids will sit for the exams in their school. This will affect them since they will walk for long and also sit for the papers in a new environment,” he said.

A CBC teacher in Migori, Collins Okumu, also commented on the format of the question in the KPSEA exams.

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KPSEA Exam Format

Okumu explained that the KPSEA has closed ended questions while the students are used to open ended questions.

“These learners are used to open ended questions but when it comes to KPSEA the questions are rigid and in the form of multiple choices. So, we think that the multiple choices system should actually begin from Grade 4 so that learners are not confused during KPSEA implementation,” Okumu said.

Also Read: KNEC Clarifies 2024 KCSE Exam Timetable

Teacher’s Plea to KNEC

The teacher asked the government to address the issue of merging examination centres stating that the Grade Six candidates are still young for such a directive.

“We are asking the government to look into this matter because the schools may at times fail to meet the required number. The kids are still young, and their life might be at risk as they commute to sit the exams,” he said.

Similarly, Lillian Akugo, the director of Dolish Uriri said the asked KNEC to reconsider the move stating that the candidate might at risk as they walk to the merged exam centres.

KCSE kicked off on Tuesday, October 2024, with President William Ruto wishing all candidates success.

“Best wishes to the 965,000 candidates sitting the KCSE examinations beginning today. May their four-year efforts and preparation be rewarded with success,” said Ruto. 

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