Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has announced the postponement of the qualifying exam for students who did not participate in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination this month. The re-sit opportunity, revealed during the release of the 2023 KCPE results in November last year, was intended for Standard Eight learners who had registered but failed to sit for the exams.
Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) CEO David Njeng’ere disclosed that the rescheduled exam for these candidates would take place after 30 days. Initially, it was anticipated that around 9,000 students would participate, but a subsequent audit by KNEC revealed only 2,000 eligible learners.
Education CS Machogu stated that due to the limited number of candidates insufficient for a national examination, the 2,000 students would instead join Form One starting January 8, 2024. They would later be permitted to sit for qualifying examinations.
However, these students were advised to take their individual qualifying exams during Form Three to ensure eligibility for registration in the KCSE Examination at Form Four.
Concerns arise for the 7,000 learners whose whereabouts remain unknown, posing a challenge to the government’s goal of achieving a 100 percent transition from primary to secondary school.
Meanwhile, KNEC Chief Executive Dr. David Njengere announced the registration period for this year’s Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). Registration is set to commence on January 29 and conclude on March 29, providing a two-month window for schools to register and validate candidate details.
Njengere emphasized the personalization of KCSE exam materials for individual candidates, underscoring that those not in the registration database by the end of the period would be ineligible for examination papers at year-end.
