Key factors come into play ahead of KCPE results release

Key factors come into play ahead of KCPE results release

As the country awaits the announcement of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations results, key issues that came up during the examinations period will come into play.

Top on the list will be the nationwide teachers’ strike that halted school activities for a whole month in September delaying the reopening of schools for the third term.

TEACHERS STRIKE

The strike, which paralysed learning in public primary and secondary schools, was as a result of a longstanding impasse between teachers’ unions – Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) – on one side, and teachers’ employer, Teachers Service Commission (TSC), on the other.

The standoff which has been paralysing the education system for decades resurfaced following a ruling by the Employment and Labour Relations Court in July ordering an increase of teachers’ salaries by 50 to 60 per cent dating back to June 2013.

The ruling led to a protracted court battle between the unions and TSC, with the latter voicing its inability to effect the increment owing to budgetary constraints.

TSC moved to the Court to Appeal and later the Supreme Court in a bid to quash the ruling, in vain, even as teachers remained adamant that they would not resume work until the increment was effected.

The issue was however leveled after the Court of Appeal called on TSC and the unions to begin negotiations on the way forward while warning against victimisation of the teachers involved in strike, calling for the payment of their September salary which had been, until then, withheld.

A later ruling that termed the earlier order to increase teachers’ salary as null and void led to protests within the teaching fraternity, with the unions vowing to proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling.

Not even the intervention of President Uhuru Kenyatta to quell the matter and meetings with the unions at State House could calm the agitated teachers, as KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion emphasized their zeal to fight for teachers’ welfare.

EXAM LEAKAGE

The second issue that has been a thorn in the flesh of Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) was cases of massive leakage during the exam period.

Reports showed that some exam questions were available in the public, hours and sometimes days before the examination time, leading to calls of condemnation from the public with some political leaders among them Mbooni MP Kisoi Munyao calling for the disbandment of KNEC over the matter.

While some people saw the cases as a deliberate fight back by the teachers over the frustration by TSC due to the pay increment dispute, investigations could not establish the motive or circumstances leading to the leakages.

Whether or not the two key factors had a bearing on the marking of the exams is subject to speculations though Kenyans will be waiting with bated breath to hear how the new Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i will address pressing issues in the sector.

It will also be interesting to see whether Matiang’i, who will be making his first announcement of results since taking over from Joseph Kaimenyi this month, will address the growing calls from leaders including Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi, for KCPE to be scrapped for reportedly impeding pupils’ academic growth.

According to Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) 937,467 candidates sat for the 2015 Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations, an increase of 48,304 from last year’s 889,163.

Candidates can access their results by texting their index numbers to 22252.

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