Stakeholders want national exams pushed to next year

Stakeholders in the education sector have recommended that this year’s National Examinations be pushed to next year.

In a report, the team led by KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion said it would be impractical to conduct the national examinations within the stipulated period this year.

“Nobody in this country should gamble with the lives of learners and teachers. For now, open bars and test social distancing. KCPE and KCSE are not a ticket to heaven,” says Sossion.

“We would rather have all our children staying at home, safe and alive and repeating a year rather than sending them to school to die. The world will not come to an end if we suspend certain matters,” he added.

Other organizations recommended that national examinations be pushed to the first quarter of 2021 given the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

The team has also recommended that all schools serving as quarantine centres be vacated immediately and fumigated before schools re-open.

In addition, classrooms should be configured to facilitate social distancing, school assemblies, and field trips cancelled and modalities put in place for students and teachers to be screened every morning and evening to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination is scheduled to start on November 2 and end on November 3, while the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam is set to start on November 4 and end on November 30.

Schools in Kenya were closed on March 15, soon after the first case was detected.

The Covid-19 Education Response Committee chaired by Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development chairperson Sara Ruto is collecting views.