Kenyatta orders special KCPE, KCSE exams for candidates

President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the Education ministry to set special supplementary exams to cater for students who failed to take the tests due to unavoidable circumstances.

He made the directive when he met Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and senior ministry officials at Harambee House before Dr Matiang’i released the exams on Tuesday.

“The president has directed the CS and his ministry to set special supplementary examinations for a special cadre of students who because of compassionate reasons may usually have difficulty doing exams during the normal exams calendar,” State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu said in a statement.

Out of the 1,003,556 candidates who registered to sit the tests, 993,718 sat the three-day examinations under tight security.

While the exact number of students who failed to either start or finish the exams due to special needs cannot be put down to a number, the strict nature of the national exams calendar has in the past locked out students who fell sick.

These students, over the years, have had to re-register for the tests and sit them the next time they are offered, albeit a year later.

“These special examinations may be undertaken by students who may be ill, lose their parents, or give birth during the normal examinations calendar,” Mr Esipisu said of the president’s directive.

“This is already the practice around the world. We have been lagging behind that and I think it is time to bridge the gap.”