The fate of 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates hoping to join universities now hangs in the balance after a petitioner challenged the grading system by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC).
In the petition filed at the Milimani Law Courts, Linda Jamii questioned the process followed in rolling out the new grading system by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu.
According to the petition, the Ministry did not conduct a public participation process as required in changing the grading system that had been used for previous examinations.
Linda Jamii in its petition questioned the justification used by Machogu in rolling out the change noting that the new grading system would help to optimize transition of candidates to the university.
According to the non-governmental organization, the number of candidates who secured the minimum entry requirement for direct placement to universities reduced compared to 2022.
In addition, the lobby group challenged the move by KNEC to release results on a provisional basis. The petition has been certified as an urgent case with CS Ezekiel Machogu, KNEC and Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) among the respondents named in the case.
Operation Linda Jamii Director Fred Ogola confirmed that his organization had filed the petition to challenge the results.
Machogu makes changes in KCSE
In the results released in January 2024, Machogu said KNEC used a new grading system using Mathematics, one language and five other best performed subjects for a candidate to compute the final mean grade.
Also Read: Machogu Releases 2023 KCSE Results
According to the CS, the new grading system would help to ensure candidates do not fall short of pursuing their dream courses in universities due to cluster points that were previously affected by grades scored in languages and other subjects used in computation.
In addition, the Education Ministry made a monumental move by releasing results through its dedicated website, a shift from the traditional SMS way where candidates would send a message with a registration number to receive results.
Also Read: Details of Machogu’s New KCSE Grading System
Whilst the website was meant to save Kenyans from the cost of sending the SMSs, the new way of checking results was marred with complaints of delays and some cases where the results reportedly changed.
But KNEC in its response allayed fears of confusion in the KCSE results and assured that candidates would eventually receive the official results from their respective schools.
KUCCPS is yet to announce the opening of its portal for revision and application for placement into various universities and institutions of higher learning.
