By Michael Oduor
Taita Taveta County Commissioner Lyford Kibaara has assured parents and candidates that elaborate plans have been put in place to ensure smooth running of the national exams starting Monday, November 28.
Speaking in Voi town, the Commissioner reiterated that the government has put stringent measures in place to safeguard the integrity of national examinations.
“On our side, we have prepared well and we have plans on how to transport exams to centers. We have beefed up our security and we will not allow anybody to interfere with the integrity of the exams because we want to deliver a clean exam, free from examination malpractices,” said Kibaara.
Being the rainy season in the area, Kibaara stated that in case there will be a challenge in transportation of examination papers due to flooding or impassable roads, a plane will be deployed in order to ensure that exams are done within the stipulated time.
“We are in constant communication with the Kenya Wildlife Service. In case we have a challenge with transporting the examination via road, we will deploy airplanes,” he said.
While wishing candidates success, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Executive Secretary Mr. Lenox Mshila urged parents to continue guiding and supporting their children to ensure they perform well in the exams.
According to him, a total of 7,713 Grade 6 candidates are expected to sit for the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) with 6,962 coming from public schools and 751 candidates coming from private schools. 8,571 candidates will sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) out of which 7,958 are from public schools while 613 are from private schools.
Further, 7,651 candidates are expected to sit for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) with 7,428 candidates coming from public schools while the remaining 223 candidates are from private secondary schools.
Mr. Mshila urged candidates to remain focused and shun away from exam malpractices adding that there have been no cases of cheating in exams in the past years, a trend which he said should be maintained.
“In Taita Taveta County, I am confident that candidates have been prepared well by our teachers and are ready for the exams. We wish you all success. In our County, we haven’t had any examination malpractices and therefore, I urge teachers and other supervisors to be vigilant to ensure malpractice-free examinations,” he added.
Further, as schools close for a two-month holiday, Mr. Mshila urged parents to take full responsibility and guide their children accordingly.
“The long holiday for our children has started. Some have started and others will come. As parents, let’s take our responsibilities as required. Let’s sit with our children, talk to them and direct them accordingly,” he said.
Being also a festive season, Mshila urged parents to watch the movements of their children to ensure that they are safe.
“Let’s not leave our children to travel without our consent as parents. Every parent should take the responsibilities as it should be so that come next year, our children will be safe to resume studies,” he added.
