About 1.4m candidates to sit this years national exams

About 1.4 million candidates will sit this year’s KCPE and KCSE exams, the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) has announced.

Speaking during the launch of this year’s national examinations at Mitihani House in Nairobi, Knec CEO Joseph Kivilu said the exams would go on as scheduled, despite the teachers’ strike, which is now in its third week.

He said that the Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Education (KSCE) exams will begin on October 12, while the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams (KCPE) are set to start from November 10 to 12, 2015.

Kivilu further added that the number of candidates sitting this year’s examinations represents a 12.7 per cent increase from those that sat last year’s exams, with those sitting KCPE at 937,467 and those sitting KCSE at 525,802.

On his part, Education Principal Secretary, Dr Bellio Kipsang, said that police choppers would airlift exam materials to places with impassable roads, adding that security will be enhanced during the period.

“As a ministry we have liaised with all security agencies and relevant stakeholders to ensure security of our children during examination periods” Kipsang said.

Kipsang also added that the ministry is planning to launch curriculum review before the end of September.

The education PS further asked the media to desist from publishing materials that may spread tension in regards to the teachers’ strike.

The announcement came even as students in the northeastern region mark months of studying without teachers following terror attacks in the towns of Garissa, Wajir and Marsabit that lead to the mass exodus of public servants in the region.