KCSE kicks off with over 750,000 candidates sitting the exams
The 2020 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education( KCSE) kicked off today countrywide as over 750,000 candidates are set to sit the for the exams.
Top government officials are overseeing the distribution of exams materials.
The Kenya National Examination Council(KNEC) is monitoring some schools in Isebania, Migori County over reports of planned exam irregularities.
Speaking in Kisii today while supervising the distribution of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Examinations (KCSE) exam materials, Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha said officers are closely monitoring schools in the area.
Magoha said a few more schools in Kisii County, where there are 371 centres, could also be on the radar and warned invigilators against reporting to exam centres late.
“We will have two police officers in each of the centres. Any school with more than 300 students will have four police officers. We are all Kenyans and we know some of us could be culpable,” said Magoha.
Four students in the county will be sitting for the examinations from the hospital.
The Ministry of Education has put tough Covid-19 protocols given the rising numbers of positive cases in the country.
At examination centres, all officials must wash their hands or sanitise before they open scripts for distribution to candidates and must use sanitisers or wash their hands before frisking candidates.
Julius Ouma Jwan, Principal Secretary in the State Department for Early Learning and Basic Education, spoke in Kibra while supervising the commencements of the distribution of KCSE papers.
Ouma dismissed the leakage reports carried by a local daily urging the country to disregard them and trust that the integrity of the exam is intact.
“For the next 4 weeks, we’re going to run the exams effectively the way we did with KCPE. I know there’s something on the headline of the papers today which we’ll be addressing later, ignore that. There is no exam that leaked. We want to assure the country that the exam’s integrity remains as it has always been,” he said.
The Early Learning and Basic Education PS further stated that marking of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams has since kicked off.
Basic Education Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Mumina Bonaya supervised the opening of the KCSE exam container at the Isiolo sub-county headquarters where she called upon centre managers to ensure credibility of the process and ensure that health protocols are observed.
Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Nancy Macharia supervised the opening of the container in Mvita at the offices of the Mombasa County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo.
