Fear Arises Over KCSE Examination Being Affected by Monday Holiday

Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang yesterday assured gazetted public holiday set for November 13 will not have any effect on Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.

He said the candidates will proceed with their exams on Monday and encouraged students not to fail to write their tests.

“We are aware that November 13 was gazetted as a national holiday next but having consulted with our colleagues were are all agreeing that it will not have any impact on our exams,” said the PS, who supervised collection of papers in Kibra Deputy County Commissioner’s office, flanked by Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) Chief Executive, Dr David Njengere.

November 13 was on Monday declared a public holiday, with Kenyans expected to take part in tree planting exercise countrywide and there will be a designated national venue to be presided over by President William Ruto.

Kipsang has also warned invigilators against lateness saying it is not allowed and will be treated as insubordination.

He, however, said this is only a small number realized in a few regions but assured it has been a smooth exercise so far including the new policy of collecting papers twice a day and despite the heavy rains.

“On Monday, we realized that in some few places, there was late arrival of a number of invigilators. Please bring it to the attention of ourselves in places where invigilators either failed or are late in turning up to so that we can replace them,” said the PS.

“If you have been assigned responsibilities and you fail to do what you have been assigned, more so if you are dealing with a national exercise, then it is not right. The good thing is that this is a very small number,” added Kipsang.This year, he said the supervisors and invigilators are secondary school teachers but a large number have come out to take part in administration of exams.

“We want to sincerely thank our teachers because what we saw yesterday in some regions which were quite up is a sacrifice that our teachers, security officers and people handling this exams were able to demonstrate.

I saw quite a number of security officers and teachers sacrificing all in making sure exam reach our children we cannot pay enough for the things you do but you are sacrificing for the future,” Kipsang said.

He said at least 10 people have been arrested with regards to handling social media platforms and the sites brought down.

“One good thing is that we have ways of accessing these social media sites. This morning we could see so many of them are starting to surrender and are saying, ‘do not use our sites for illegal things’. These people are feeling the impact and by so doing, we are going towards having a clean exam which is what we want for our children,” the PS stated.

Going into the future, he said the country will be able to deliver a more relaxed exam and called for trust among teachers to do a good job.

Njengere urged supervisors to ensure no phones in the exam rooms.

“Make sure that all phones, including those of cooks let them be in your custody in your office if we do that I am sure when we do that we will have dealt with any cases that may emerge in your centres,” said the CEO.

In the North Rift, exams continued without any hitches. A spot check by People Daily established that the examination materials reached the centres on time except in some areas of Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet where some roads have been rendered impassable due to heavy rains pounding the region.

In Uasin Gishu County, Small and Medium Enterprises Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui reiterated the government’s commitment to ensure the credibility of the exam is upheld.

Chelugui who witnessed the opening of exams container at Kapsoya in Ainabkoi sub-county at 6.45am.