Candidates left on their own as boycott takes toll

Candidates have resorted to group discussions and tuition by colleagues to prepare for national exams as the ongoing teachers strike takes toll on learners.

Some parents have also enrolled their children in private schools for the period of the strike while others have recruited private tutors to attend to their students at home.

The candidates are scheduled to sit for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams next month but some schools are yet to cover the syllabus.

A spot check by Saturday Nation in Bungoma County yesterday revealed that most learners had formed discussion groups as teachers kept away from classes.

At St Cecilia Girls High School Misikhu, top students had assumed their teachers’ roles and were assisting their weak colleagues in preparing for the exams.

In Trans Nzoia County, some private schools have enrolled candidates who have registered for the tests in public schools to help them revise.

Some have recorded a high enrolment of part time learners, who are not taking chances with the strike.

Mrs Eunice Adema, a teacher at Exodus Academy in Kitale, said they had enrolled a good number of pupils in Standard Eight.

“We have enrolled more than ten pupils whose parents are paying fee for them to learn during this time of the strike,” she said in a phone interview.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Nyeri branch chairman Patrick Karinga said candidates in the region were being helped by their parents and relatives.

He said some schools had not covered the syllabus, a situation that has placed learners in tight spot.

“We thought teachers would work day and night during the first weeks after opening of the schools to cover the syllabuses and revise,” he said.

He warned that there was a likelihood of poor performance in national exams this year.

This came as the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) Chief Executive Paul Wasanga expressed fears that the ongoing teachers strike may affect the take off of this year’s exams.

Mr Wasanga said the council was worried because teachers play an important role in administering and supervising the exams.

“It is worrying but we believe that in a very short time there will be an agreement where teachers will go back to work,” he said in Nairobi.

He appealed to teachers and the government to reach an agreement to avert the crisis that is threatening to paralyse the education sector.

“We would like to see these things solved so that teachers can go back to classrooms,” he said. “We are doing whatever it takes to ensure that everyone involved in the examination process are well briefed and if possible have an examination period free of challenges,” he added.

By Goffrey Ombogo, Philip Bwayo, Eddy Ngeta, George Sayagie, Simon Siele, Eric Mutai, Erick Ngobilo and Edith Fortunate