School heads have issued new demands on the administration of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination, that may see a change in the registration and dates of the exams if approved.
The school principals want Education Secretary, George Magoha, to push the registration date to the students’ last year in school, rather than when they are in Form Three.
They argued that there was a tendency by parents to relapse and not follow up on their children’s welfare and progress once the learners are registered to sit the exams
According to Kenya Secondary School’s Heads Association (KESSHA) chairperson, Kahi Indimuli, he said that schools have in the past grappled with truancy as students disappeared for a better part of the school calendar only to reappear weeks before the exams
“Whenever we conduct registration in Form Three, a larger group of students vanish as the examination fee is paid by the government. Parents also relax and are not concerned with students failing to attend school,” Indimuli noted
Indimuli suggested that the Ministry of Education changes the registration exercise to curb truancy by considering the period a student has attended classes. He suggested that the Ministry puts a ceiling on the minimum number of lessons a learner should clock in to be eligible for registration as a candidate.
The teachers also called upon Magoha to be lenient with expectant and new mothers sitting the exams. It was proposed that students who give birth before and during the national exams be given enough rest time and be excluded from the national tests. These students should, later on, sit special KCSE exams.
“Imagine a young girl going through labor pains all night and delivering at 6 am maybe through the cesarean section or normal delivery, only to meet an invigilator, a policeman, and a supervisor two hours later. This should be changed,” argued Indimuli
He added that pregnancy should not be treated as a disease and they are calling upon Interior Ministry officials to look for the girls, ensure they receive proper counseling, and return them to school.