Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) CEO David Njeng’ere has clarified that only Sub County Directors of Education (SCDEs) are responsible for merging examination centres.
Speaking to Education News in an interview today, Njeng’ere said that the policy has been in place since 2021.
His remarks come after a teacher in Nakuru county called on KNEC to stop the merging of candidates during national examinations, saying that the exercise disadvantages students who come from humble background as it costs them a lot to access the venues.
“The policy has been in place since 2021 as part of the Ministry of Education plan to efficiently deter the occurrence of examination-related malpractices and maintain the integrity of the examination. The Sub-County Directors of Education were tasked to submit the list of host and hosted schools in their area of jurisdiction and KNEC is not responsible for the same,” he said.
The KNEC boss asserted that the mergers only occur in public and private schools with an exception for special needs schools.
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In 2021, the Ministry of Education, through KNEC, announced that schools with less than 30 candidates will no longer be registered as KCSE and KCPE examination centres in a move aimed at cutting the cost of hiring invigilators, supervisors, security officers and drivers.
The ministry ordered that class one to seven pupils be at home during this period to ensure enough space to accommodate candidates.
Even though a section of education stakeholders especially from marginalized areas moved to court to challenge the directive, the High Court upheld the decision.
By Vostine Ratemo
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