Members of the National Assembly’s Committee on Education on December 7 expressed their satisfaction with responses given by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu regarding the errors reported in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams.
Speaking after the submissions by Machogu and Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, the Committee’s chair Julius Melly affirmed that the report tabled in the session was satisfactory.
In his submissions, CS Machogu denied having rushed to release the 2023 KCPE results as alleged by some politicians and educationists.
According to him, the Ministry of Education did due diligence in the process of marking, verifying, and validating the results before releasing them.
His stance was also shared by PS Kipsang who said that the Ministry undertook great care in marking and verifying the 2023 KCPE.
In his submissions, Kipsang said that KNEC had incorporated Quality control and Quality Assurance procedures in all examination processes.
Process of ensuring accuracy in KCPE marking
The main procedures in the process, according to the PS, is confirmation of the keys for scoring multiple choices questions which are marked using the electronic system.
This, he added, helps to ensure that the keys for multiple choice questions are accurate before the marking commences.
As per the submissions, a panel of experts met on November 3 and approved the keys used in marking the 2023 KCPE ahead of the marking.
“The panel approved the keys for scoring the 2023 examinations,” he said.
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“A statically adequate sample is selected to validate and verify the accuracy of the capture of scores per paper, standardization of scores per paper and grading of grades per paper.”
The PS then went on to state that all information regarding the process used in standardization was available to the public and schools for scrutiny.
However, the Chair urged the Kenya National Examinations Council – KNEC to be proactive in communicating adequately on concerns surrounding the exams.
“There’s nothing to hide after looking at the report KNEC has presented, ” Melly noted.
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Jitters surrounding 2023 Exams
Machogu’s and Kipsang’s submissions before the MPs came on the back of a heated debate surrounding the errors in transmission of results.
Among those who protested the marks was opposition leader Raila Odinga who said that Machogu had failed to maintain the standards set by previous Cabinet Secretaries in the Ministry on managing of the exam.
In a presser on December 6, the opposition leader also accused the government of interfering with exam marking contracts- a move he noted led to the confusion and errors.
