By Roy Hezron
The Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) has embarked on a task to find a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to take over from Dr. Mercy Karogo who is holding the position in acting capacity.
In a re-advertisement published in one of the dailies, the council is looking for a firm, fair, transparent, transformative, dynamic, innovative, creative, self-driven and motivative leader to fill the position for a renewable period of 5 years.
In addition, the Council requires a candidate who has at least 10 years’ experience in matters pertaining to education, training, research, policy formulation and procedures of government; with Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Education or any other field relevant to the mandate of the Council.
Those wishing to apply have been given up to May 21, 2021 to apply for the position.
Dr. Karogo was appointed in 2016 by the then Knec Chairman Prof. George Magoha during the reign of Dr. Fred Matiang’i as the Education cabinet Secretary to restore the credibility of the examinations, following Joseph Kivilu’s exit the 2015.
She previously served as senior deputy director and head of the Curriculum and Research Services department at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
She holds a PhD in Business Administration and Management from Dedan Kimathi University, Masters of Science, Entrepreneurship degree from Jomo-Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and a Bachelor of Education degree from University of Nairobi.
Under her leadership as CEO, Karogo oversaw elimination of then rampant examination malpractices that included leakages since 2016.
Currently, the council is grabbling with new malpractices which included some of the examination officials opening papers during the morning hours of 6:30 am to 8:00 am before the starting time.
In addition, Dr. Karogo faced another challenge of administering the 2020 examination under extra ordinary circumstances due to disruption school calendar due to long closure witnessed from March last year because of Covid-19 outbreak.
The new CEO will be tasked to oversee the next two sets of national examinations in March-April 2021 as the government rushes to stabilize the academic calendar of January-November which is expected to kick off in January 2023 following the effects of Covid-19 which lead to a 9 month school closure from March last year.
