Bill paves way for another examiner

What you need to know:

  • The Bill proposes that a curriculum that is developed or approved for basic education in Kenya shall be examined by the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) or other examining body duly accredited by the Cabinet Secretary.

Another examiner to rival Kenya National Examinations Council is on the way if a Bill before Parliament is passed into law.

The Basic Education (Amendment) Bill, 2014, by Education committee chairman Julius Melly is seeking to give the Cabinet secretary for education powers to allow the establishment of another examining body.

The Bill seeks to amend Section 75 of the Basic Education Act of 2013, which states: “Except as otherwise provided for under this Act, no person or institution shall combine the functions of developing and teaching and examining or assessing and issuing a certificate in respect of a curriculum without accreditation and approval in accordance with the provisions of this Act.”

The Bill proposes that a curriculum that is developed or approved for basic education in Kenya shall be examined by the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) or other examining body duly accredited by the Cabinet Secretary.

County education boards will now be expected to maintain a data bank of all students who are ranked in the first quartile by the constituency in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams and who due to inability to pay school fees fail to join a public secondary school or complete education.
UNDER MPs CONTROL

Mr Melly said the move will ensure all candidates who score more than 350 marks in national examination are supported to move on to secondary schools.

“We want to ensure that the bursaries that they get can sustain them in school by having access to all available financial support from the government and other stakeholders,” the committee chairman and Tinderet MP said.

The Sh1.1 billion bursary that used to be administered by the ministry is now under MPs’ control.