Ambulances, copters on standby as exams begin

The government was yesterday racing against time to put in place measures to address a myriad challenges ahead of the national examinations starting next week.

The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams are set to kick off on Tuesday, with rehearsals on Monday, while the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) theory will get underway on November 4. The practical and oral examinations for the Form Four candidates started last Monday and ended on Friday.

The government yesterday assured the Saturday Nation that it is well prepared to deal with various challenges that may threaten the conduct of the exams. Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has directed all regional and county directors of education to liaise with county commissioners to ensure examination materials reach all centres on time. They will also be required to file daily reports.

EXTRA RESOURCES

During the launch of national examinations period and issuing of container padlocks last week, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha assured the country that the government had set aside extra resources, including helicopters, to ensure the examination papers get to the centres safely and on time.

Four-wheel-drive vehicles, boats and helicopters have been mobilised to transport examination materials to areas that have been rendered inaccessible by floods. Officials have also prepared to deal with possible emergencies in handling pregnant candidates.

Last year, there was an outcry over the huge number of pregnant candidates. This year, more than 10 KCPE and KCSE expectant candidates are anticipated to sit their tests in hospital. Webuye East sub-county has reported 13 pregnant students, eight of them in secondary schools.

Addressing the press on Thursday evening at St Mathews ACK Secondary School in Webuye Town after briefing education stakeholders ahead of the examinations, sub-county education director Sospeter Were said most of the expectant students are expected to deliver during the examination period.

PREGNANT CANDIDATES

“We have talked to the school heads and centre managers and agreed that when a student is due to deliver they should communicate with us so that we dispatch a vehicle to take them to hospital. They will still sit their examinations in hospital, under supervision,” Mr Were said.

In Tigania East, Meru County, vehicles will be stationed at examination centres that have pregnant candidates so as to respond quickly in the event of an emergency.

Education officer Dabasso Saru, speaking at the sub-county headquarters at Muthara, said the area had many pregnant candidates among the 1,933 KCPE candidates. A recent report indicated four out of every 10 women attending pre-natal clinics in Meru County are girls below 19 years.

“We know some girls are pregnant and we don’t know how advanced they are in the pregnancy. We are mapping the schools and want to ensure that our vehicles will remain there after delivering examination materials,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has forecast more heavy rains in the highlands east and west of the Rift Valley, the southeast lowlands, northwest and the Coast region early next week.

FLOODING

The country has received heavy rains in the past three weeks, resulting in flooding and landslides that have so far killed 29 people and displaced hundreds more. Key roads and bridges have been swept away, cutting out some regions and occasioning the closure of some schools.

The worst affected areas are Turkana, Mandera, Wajir, Kwale, Isiolo, Marsabit and Tana River counties.

To ensure the security of the examination materials, as has been the case in the past three years, they will be stored in containers stationed at the sub-county headquarters. The containers will be guarded by police officers. County administrators will be present daily during the opening and closing of the containers in the sub-counties.

Prof Magoha warned against cheating, saying, “If they try it again this year, we will unleash the full force of the law against them.”

“Over the course of this year, we have mapped the country in a manner that has allowed us to easily reach the regions that are considered cheating hotspots,” he said.

Some of the areas that the Kenya National Examination Council has flagged as potential cheating hotspots are Meru, Kiambu, Garissa, West Pokot, Kisii, Wajir and some counties in Nyanza.

In Lamu, county commissioner Irungu Macharia said security officers had been deployed in all schools in terror-prone areas and along the Kenya-Somalia border for the security of the candidates.

SPECIAL VEHICLES

“We’re not worried about heavy rains or floods in Lamu, but we have set aside special vehicles that will help in ensuring candidates receive the examination papers on time in case there will be flooding during the examination period,” said Mr Macharia.

The county director of education, Joshua Kaaga, said measures have been put in place to curb cheating. He cautioned parents and teachers against conmen who might want to dupe them to buy fake examination papers.

But in Tana River County, candidates in seven schools will be relocated to safer grounds ahead of the crucial national tests. County director of education James Nyaga said schools in Tana Delta and Galole sub-counties are perceived unsafe and difficult to access owing to the swelling River Tana.

“Candidates in Kitere and Mnazini schools, which are across the river, will be moved to schools closer to the market centre in Mnazini,” he said.

The students will be accommodated in boarding schools.

The Kenya Red Cross Society has offered boats to be used where make-shift bridges have been destroyed by floods.

In Kwale County, director of education Jane Njogu told the Saturday Nation that there are plans to merge examination centres that are likely to be inaccessible as a result of flooding.

EMERGENCIES

Eight schools have been cut off in Marsabit and Isiolo. But Eastern regional director of education Patrick Khaemba said the government is fully prepared to deal with emergencies.

The Saturday Nation has learnt that officials have been directed to assess the flooding situation in the affected areas and move the affected candidates to safer grounds.

“Some centres will be relocated while in others, examination papers will be airlifted. There should be no cause for alarm,” Mr Khaemba said.

Some examination centres in Kitui and Machakos counties have also been affected but the situation is not very serious, the official said.

In Banisa Sub-county in Mandera, deputy county commissioner Noah Tanui expressed fears of a messy examination period.

“We are worried of the rivers receiving waters from the Ethiopian highlands but we are ready,” he said.

In Isiolo, county director of education Koriyow Hassan said about 20 schools in Merti and Garbatulla sub-counties are being monitored.

— Reporting by David Muchunguh, Dennis Lubanga, Charles Wanyoro, Fadhili Fredrick, Winnie Atieno, Stephen Oduor, Kalume Kazungu, George Munene, Sammy Lutta and Tom Matoke