The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has acknowledged a system error that resulted in mistakes in the printed nominal rolls for the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams results.
Education CS Ezekiel Machogu and KNEC CEO, Dr David Njengere told the National Assembly Education Committee that there was a technical hitch during the printing process leading to discrepancies in the results.
The leaders said KNEC encountered technical difficulties during the printing process, leading to the omission of minus signs (-) for some grades.
“This means some students’ grades were printed as, for example, a D (plain) instead of a D- (minus),” KNEC officials added.
Machogu and Njegere informed the Committee that 3,018 candidates across 1,059 examination centres nationwide were affected by this error including Kililai Secondary School.
Members of the Committee raised alarm over the distress the affected students experienced and the confusion in the errors caused in the affected schools.
KNEC assured the Committee that the online portal reflected the accurate results.
“The discrepancies were solely in the printed nominal rolls distributed to schools. The council has since delivered corrected printouts to affected schools, including Kililai,” KNEC said.
KNEC & Ministry’s Correctional Steps
CS Machogu said the Ministry of Education has taken steps to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
“A technical team was constituted, with representation from the Ministry of ICT and the Digital Economy, the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Unit and the ICT Authority. By a letter dated 4th March 2024, the team submitted its report to the Ministry of Education,” Machogu said.
According to Machogu, the recommendations include establishing a multi-sectoral ICT committee to oversee the examination process from marking to releasing results and implementing regular load tests to assess system capacity.
Additionally, KNEC will upgrade its IT infrastructure and implement continuous performance monitoring to proactively identify potential issues.
Also Read: KNEC Releases 2023 KCSE Results Slips & KCPE Certificates
2023 KCSE Results
Machogu released the 2023 KCSE results on January 8, 2024.
Questions were raised over some inconsistencies in the results on the KNEC portal after the ministry scrapped the use of SMS service for candidates to access their grades.
Shortly after the release of the KCSE results, photos showing instances where grades changed were shared on social media raising an alarm over the authenticity of the results.
Senate commenced investigations into the integrity of the 2023 KCSE results following questions raised about their credibility.
Responding to the concerns, Machogu maintained that KNEC upheld the integrity of the 2023 KCSE exam.
On February 3, KNEC sent the 2023 KCSE result slips to schools for collection.
Also Read: KNEC Gives Update on KCSE 2024 Registration Ahead of Deadline
Performance Breakdown
899,453 candidates sat the 2023 KCSE, out of which 1,216 candidates scored grade A (plain) while 7,254 attained grade A- (minus).
Besides, 18,078 candidates managed to score B+ (plus) while 36,728 got B (plain) and some 59, 514 scored B- (minus).
Also,78,343 students scored a C+ (plus), 92,612 got C (plain), 107,471 had C- (minus) while 125,006 attained D+ (plus).
Additionally, 155,276 candidates also managed D (plain), another 165,861 scored D- (minus) and some 48,174 students scored E.
