Exams council, candidates get ready for KCPE

Preparations for this year’s Class Eight national examinations are complete, the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) has said.

Knec chief executive Joseph Kivilu yesterday said, “all steps necessary to ensure smooth running and credibility of the 2014 examinations” have been taken.

Some 889,107 candidates will sit the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam this year, in 24,278 examination centres countrywide.

Mr Kivilu said dispatch of examination papers started on Friday and ends today. There are seven subjects to be examined in nine papers.

“We have sent the examination papers to more than 1,000 distribution centres across the country, except Nairobi and Mombasa, where papers will be delivered daily,” he said.

Rehearsals for the examinations will be held tomorrow. Examinations start on Tuesday and end on Thursday. Kivilu also said emergency measures have been put in place and a helicopter is on standby.

“We have spoken to Turkana’s director of education, and county security chiefs have also met over the insecurity in the region,” he added.

A vehicle carrying Form Four national examination papers to the region was attacked and burnt by bandits last week.

Knec hired a helicopter to ferry the examinations in time, the following day.

Kivilu said examination papers for insecurity-prone sections of Turkana County, such as the region between Kapedo and Silale, had been stored in police armories.

No taking chances

“Generally, we have beefed up security because we do not want to take chances. The rest is now left to the candidates. They have prepared for these questions for eight years so they need not panic.”

 Mathematics and English sections A (Language) and B (Composition) will be sat on day one of the examinations. The Science and Kiswahili papers are scheduled for Wednesday. Social sciences and Religious Education will be done on Thursday.

Kivilu said the council has contracted the services of 134,435 professionals to manage field administration operations.

Some 24,283 supervisors, 55,505 invigilators, 48,576 security personnel and 6,071 drivers will participate in the three-day nationwide exercise.

The official, however, warned candidates against attempts to cheat. “We strongly discourage candidates against engaging in examination irregularities. So far, the Form Four national examinations have had isolated cases of cheating, but the candidates should rememember that the Knec Act is operational,” said Kivilu.

“The success of offering these examinations will depend on the efforts of the Knec and all the stakeholders including the candidates, parents, the public and the media.”

Kivilu said examination officers for this year are drawn from various areas, including Knec, the Ministry of Education, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Teachers’ Service Commission and Kenya Secondary School Heads Association.