KCPE Disrupted at St. Annes, Kisumu As Parents Complain About Candidate Registration

The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations were disrupted today morning, 29th October, at Kisumu County’s St. Annes Academy Kajulu by annoyed parents.

The parents stormed the school compound after learning about the exam registration confusion of their children.

According to the parents, the school had 46 learners who were to be registered for KCPE examinations but only 20 had been registered in the school as the remaining 26 were taken to the neighbouring public Primary school.

The school was said to have registered only 20 pupils as they were the top performers of the school and the management did not want a tainted image of their school’s performance upon the releasing of the national examination results.

One parent said that he discovered that his son was not in school for his exams when he went to check on his well-being because he was sick.

The parents claimed that they had no idea the school was duping them as they were in school for a prayer meeting for their children during which each parent paid two thousand shillings to cater for the children’s feeding programme during the exam period and graduation four days after the completion of exams.

“As much as it is illegal to be within examination centres, we have a right to know the whereabouts of our children especially during this time,” said a parent whose child was among the 26.

The parents said that they were told to have their children stay in school for the three exam days, only for their kids to be taken to a dusty classroom in a public school to spend the night.

An inside source said that the school has been retaining only top performers during examination periods and dumping the rest to nearby public schools.

While efforts to reach the school management to explain the issue were futile, the school’s headteacher, Mr. Martin Kokiro declined to comment on the matter and advised that the parents seek answers from the management as he was new in the school.\

As the chaos went on, Kisumu County Director of education sought the intervention of police and the visibly annoyed parents camped outside the gate.