As the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education KCPE examination started today, 15 pupils of a private primary school in Nyamira were in tears after it dawned on them that they were not registered for the national examination.
Oscar Randa Junior Academy in Manga Sub-county where pupils have been learning for the entire year remained deserted with no sign of life in the school compound.
The Standard caught up with 15-year-old Bernard Ariga, one of the pupils who were anticipating to sit for the examinations, near his father's compound at Sengereri Village, peeping through the fence to see how candidates from the nearby Sengereri DEB Primary school were undertaking their end-of-primary course exams.
His father, a peasant farmer, was not at home but the mother, Mary Ariga, a shopkeeper was going on with her everyday duties in and around her retail kiosk.
The mother said she never suspected that her son would not be registered for the examinations immediately after paying Sh1, 300, which is the statutory examination fee by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC).
"The teacher assured us that everything was well with our children's examinations and there was no cause for any disbelieve," said Mary.
She said shadows of doubt started coming in when some pupils from neighbouring schools started talking about final-touches they were being guided through before the actual dates of the national tests.
"Teachers and even pupils of our neighbouring school talked about verification of signatures and other details pertaining registration of examinations something we had not heard from the school where my son was schooling. That is how we started becoming suspicious," the parent said.
Upon verification from Manga Sub-county education offices, parents who had mobilized each other to find out the truth turned the heat on the school's head teacher whom they arrested and handed over to the police.
However, by the time they were realizing their kids were not registered, it was too late for them to safe the situation.
Johnson Nyang'au an area clan elder said he was among those who persuaded the parents against beating up the head teacher as they handed him over to the police.
County Director of Education Mr. Didakus could not comprehensively comment about the matter. He instead quickly dismissed this writer by saying he was busy administering examinations and would talk about the issue "later."
