The government has launched a month-long search for all Class Eight pupils who may have missed the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination to sit a special test aimed at getting all the candidates into Form One next year.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu says the government will map the country to leave no one behind in the 100 percent transition goal since this was the last KCPE exam, ending an era of 39 years since 1985. For close to four decades, more than 26 million people had sat for the national exam, the CS said.
“To ensure that no candidate misses out in joining Form One from the final 2023 KCPE examination cohort, the Ministry of Education will conduct thorough mapping of any of those who may have failed to sit their examination this year in order to administer a special exam in January 2024,” Mr Machogu said.
Also Read: KCPE exam ends with 428 as top score
According to the CS, the Ministry of Education estimates 9,354 learners may have missed the exam whose results were released on November 23. The government is firing on all cylinders to leave no one behind in the quest to midwife young people into their dream careers and nation-building.
In this year’s exam, Michael Warutere of Riara Springs Academy emerged the best with 428 marks out of a possible 500. Master Warutere has said in media interviews he dreams of becoming a software engineer with his eyes on joining Mang’u High School, a Thika-based national school.
The special exam will be one of the deliberate attempts by the government to end the KCPE era on a high note. Already, the government allowed 205 learners who did not register for the test to sit for it together with the 1.4 million others.
“We are all aware that any candidate who would fail to transition to Form One will not have any opportunity to repeat a class as was the case in the past, owing to the end of the KCPE examination,” Mr Machogu said at the headquarters of the Kenyan National Examinations Council (KNEC) when he released the results in Nairobi.
He asked parents and guardians to enrol their children in Form One, saying the government has enough facilities to accommodate all the learners.
Kenya’s top-performing national and extra-county schools are grappling with congestion under the 100 percent transition policy. Across the country, the celebrated schools have close to 20 streams, giving them more than 1,000 students per class, a situation education experts say is leading to half-baking of learners and compromising safety in places such as dormitories and laboratories.
It is, however, ironical that some schools can barely raise the minimum 30 learners to keep their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination centre status after a recent policy review.
editor@aplain.co.ke
