Uhuru wants supplementary KCPE, KCSE exams for students

President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the Education Ministry to set special supplementary exams to accommodate those unable to sit during the normal examination period due to personal reasons.

State House spokesperson, Manoah Esipisu said the president had issued this directive to Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i shortly before the release of the 2017 KCPE results.

“The president has directed the CS and his ministry to set special supplementary examinations, for a special cadre of students who because of compassionate reasons may usually have difficulty doing exams during the normal exams calendar,” said Esipisu.

The State House spokesperson stated that the practice of having special exams outside the normal calendar was in line with international practice which Kenya was yet to adopt.

“This is already the practice around the world. We [Kenya] have been lagging behind and I think it is time to bridge that gap,” he added.

The special exams, according to Esipisu, would be undertaken by categories of people including; those who were ill, had lost their parents during the examination period or had given birth while the exams were ongoing.

Dr. Matiang’i released the results of the 2017 KCPE barely 19 days after the exams had ended, with the highest student registering 455 out of 500 marks, and the ministry recording no single case of examination malpractice.