Machogu lays plans for KCPE, KCSE exams
Three Cabinet secretaries are set to convene a meeting tomorrow to oversee the commencement of this year’s national examinations in Kenya. This move follows the revelation of upcoming strategic changes aimed at ensuring the secure administration of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations.
The Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) is actively working to implement measures that will eliminate any potential vulnerabilities that could compromise the integrity of these exams.
Education CS Ezekiel Machogu will host the meeting, and his counterparts, Kithure Kindiki (Interior) and Eliud Owalo (ICT), will participate as part of a multi-sectoral approach. The meeting is scheduled for Monday and will take place at the Knec head office.
During the meeting, Machogu is expected to provide detailed information about the three national examinations that will be administered to a record 3.5 million students. According to Knec data, more than 1.2 million students will sit the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), while another 1.4 million will take the KCPE exam, and 903,260 will take the KCSE exam.
This year’s KCPE examination marks the last under the 8-4-4 education system. Dr. David Njengere, the Knec chief executive, has outlined adjustments in the transportation of KCSE papers, particularly those scheduled for the afternoon session, to prevent early exposure of examination materials.
Instead of schools receiving both morning and afternoon papers simultaneously, they will now collect each examination separately based on the scheduled session. For instance, papers designated for the morning session will be distributed in the morning, while afternoon papers will be securely stored until they are needed.
Njengere further explained that “The changes will involve the release and transportation of only one paper to the examination center at a time.” These changes primarily target KCSE examinations, as they have been identified as the most susceptible to early exposure.
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Furthermore, the government has increased the number of storage containers by 82, bringing the total to 576. Schools have also been remapped to facilitate easier access to the nearest storage container.
In terms of grading, extensive changes are expected to impact the KCSE examination. The Presidential Working Party for Education Reform has recommended that the grading should be based on two compulsory subjects in determining learners’ final scores. These compulsory subjects will be one language (English or Kiswahili) and Mathematics.
These two subjects will be considered alongside a candidate’s best five subjects in calculating the final score. Currently, Knec grades candidates based on five compulsory subjects and two other best-performing subjects, including Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, and two sciences chosen from Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.
Machogu lays plans for KCPE, KCSE exams
