KCSE exams kick off

Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Education (KCSE) examinations kicked off smoothly Monday morning, with the candidates sitting for their Home science Paper One amid stern warning from the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) against cheating.

The number of candidates sitting this year’s examinations represents a 12.7 per cent increase from those that sat for last year’s exams, with the total number of candidates being 525,802.

Last month, KNEC announced that about 1.4 million candidates were to sit for this year’s national examinations KCPE and KCSE, with the exam dates for KSCE being set at between 12 October 12 and 5 November.

During the launch of this year’s national examinations, Joseph Kivilu KNEC CEO stated that the exams would go on as scheduled, despite the teachers’ strike, which is had paralyzed learning in public schools for five weeks.

Kivilu also said there were fake chemistry papers in circulation with the number 1246 at the bottom and warned both candidates and parents against buying the fake papers.

“Fraudsters are busy at work to exploit the candidates. Candidates need to be warned to avoid the temptations and wait for our exams as scheduled,” he said.

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

Meanwhile, teachers have threatened to sue the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) for contempt of court after it failed to pay them their September salaries.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) is expected to hold a consultative meeting on Monday with its lawyers to find the way forward, while the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) said it planned to sue the commission if the salaries were not paid by the end of the day Monday.

During the strike, TSC had warned that those who would not report to work by 18 September, 2015 would be expunged from the payroll.

Teachers resumed duty on 5^th of this month following an order by the Industrial and Labour Relations Court.

The Court of Appeal said it would give a ruling on 6 November  on whether the 50 – 60 per cent pay rise awarded to the teachers by the Employment and Labour Relations Court in June this year was legal.

The five-judge bench said it would deliver a ruling on the matter after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) contested the award by the Labour Court.