The Ministry of Education has moved to stop the illegal registration of Grade 7 learners for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam by asking regional bosses to audit the numbers against last year’s enrolment.
According to Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, regional and county education top brass will monitor any abnormal applications for birth certificates and assess the listing against the 2022 Grade 7 numbers.
A section of schools and teachers has resorted to registering some Grade 7 learners for the final KCPE exam that will be sat end of the year before the 8-4-4 system of education is phased out.
Reports indicate that the collusion between teachers and parents signals the misgivings about the Junior Secondary Schools that have just been launched with teething problems, including lack of teachers, equipment, books while congestion has also been reported.
The PS issued a stern warning to primary schools that may be illegally transferring Grade Seven learners to Standard Eight for KCPE that they will be nabbed.
Dr Kipsang was responding to reports of maltipractices in the ongoing KCPE exam registration that started in February 1 and will end on March 30.
“Any school found to engage in such malpractice will face action,” Dr Kipsang stated in a memo to all regional education chiefs, asking them to validate KCPE registration data.
He asked them to report any abnormal increase in the exam candidature compared to the 2022 Class 7 enrolment.
The PS directed the officers to work with their counterparts in Citizen Services to flag an unprecedented rise in birth certificate requests and issuance.
“This presents a serious breach of ethics and integrity by schools,” he added.
While surveys show the Competence-based Curriculum (CBC) under which the junior secondary falls, observers say its roll-out has been rushed, giving the pioneers a raw deal.
Under the 100 percent transition, some 1.2 million learners are expected to register for the junior secondary classes going by the number that sat for the Grade Six Kenya Primary School Education Assessment test last year.
