The preparations for this year’s national examinations for 2.1 million KCPE and KCSE candidates are complete.
The specifics of how the tests will be administered will be revealed today at a high-level meeting chaired by Education CS George Magoha.
Interior’s Fred Matiang’i and ICT’s Joe Mucheru will also attend the meeting of regional security officers. With the exams only two weeks away, the meeting will focus on administration and how to secure exam materials.
“This is to request you, through the County Directors, to identify and nominate centre managers, supervisors and invigilators to be engaged in administration of the examination,” read the January 12 TSC circular.
The meeting comes just days after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) directed regional directors to expedite the nomination of center managers, supervisors, and invigilators to participate in the examinations.
TSC directs in the memo that after the examination officials are identified and nominated, they be deployed into the administration system by March 4.
The 2021 KCPE examinations are scheduled to take place between March 7 and 10, according to the revised education calendar.
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Open in new tab And the KCSE exams will be held between March 11 and April 1.
Loading...According to Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) data, a total of 2,056,719 people have registered for the tests, which are set to begin in two weeks. There will be 1,225,693 KCPE students and 831,026 KCSE students.
According to KNEC, the number of candidates taking the KCPE exams has increased by 34,085 over the previous year.
According to KNEC data, an additional 78, 424 candidates have registered to take the KCSE exams.
Top security and education officials will be present at today’s meeting, which will take place at the Kenya School of Government in Lower Kabete, Nairobi.
Prof Magoha and Dr Matiang’i are expected to present a national examination roadmap. The officials will also outline the measures that will be used in the management of the tests that will result in the issuance of keys to containers with padlocks.
According to Ministry communication, officials will begin the 2021 National Examination period and will also issue security padlocks.
The launch entails briefing of County and Sub County Education officials and their counterparts in the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government on the administration of the 2021 KCPE and KCSE and other issues relevant to the administration of the examinations,” reads the Ministry statement.
This year, two sets of national exams will be administered: the 8-4-4 system and the 2-6-3-3-3 system. As the country embraces new education reforms, the March exams will be the first of two separate sets of national tests to be administered this year.
In December, the second group of candidates under the 8-4-4 education system will take the KCPE and KCSE exams.
According to a Knec report, 479 containers will be used to store examination materials. Magoha stated that the March exams will be moderated to account for the challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted learning and forced a reorganization of the school calendar.
The council also intends to purchase smart padlocks for use in examination storage containers, as well as to increase printing capacity by modernizing secure printing equipment and automating the printing process.
The Council stated that it intends to review Knec rules and regulations, develop and review Council operational policies, and conduct legal and compliance audits.
It also intends to train ICT personnel on security, networks, databases, and data center technologies, as well as to sensitize personnel on general ICT literacy.
