NAIROBI, Kenya—The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) is planning to introduce a mid-year series of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.
Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Education Julius Ogamba Migos disclosed that the mid-year series of KCSE will be administered in July every year.
“After stakeholder consultations, I wish to announce that the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) will introduce a mid-year series of KCSE to be administered in July every year,” said the CS.
CS Ogamba made the remarks when he presided over the official release of the 2024 KCSE examination results at an event held at Mtihani House in Nairobi.
“The mid-year series KCSE examination will target candidates wishing to repeat the KCSE examination and those who may have missed sitting in the examinations due to sickness or unexpected hardships,” explained the CS.
Who are other candidates eligible to sit for the mid-year KCSE exams
The CS further revealed that adult candidates may also consider applying for the July series examination starting this year.
To align the country’s examination process with the best global examination practices, the CS announced that his ministry is integrating orbit readers and phasing out braille machines to administer the KCSE examination to candidates with visual impairments.
As earlier reported, during the 2024 KCSE examination, 962,512 candidates sat for it, compared to 899,453 candidates in 2023.
“This represents an increase of 64,553 candidates, or 7.19%. Of the candidates who sat for the 2024 KCSE examinations, 480,310 were male, while 482,202 were female, representing 49.9% and 50.9%, respectively,” added CS Ogamba.
The CS further said that this is the first time since the inception of KCSE that there are more female candidates than male candidates.
How many candidates were involved in the examination malpractices
In 2024, CS Ogamba revealed that 840 candidates were involved in examination irregularities, and their results were cancelled.
“The cancellation of the examination results is empowered by the law provided in the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) handling of the examination irregularities rules of 2015 Legal Notice Number 132 of 2015, rule Number 8, to withhold the results of any candidate or examination centre suspected of having been involved in an examination irregularity or malpractice pending completion of investigations,” explained the CS.
To this end, CS Ogamba said the results of 2829 candidates suspected of being involved in exam irregularities have been withheld pending investigations. These investigations should be completed within 30 days from the official date of the release of the examination results, which is today.
“Unfortunately, a few contracted professionals and teachers are still involved in ruining the future of our learners by subjecting them to examination malpractices. Ninety-one contracted professionals were reported to have been involved in aiding exam malpractices. Firm disciplinary action will be taken against such individuals,” added the CS.
The CS briefed President William Ruto at the State House in Nairobi before releasing the 2024 KCSE examination results.
