Candidates begin KCSE practical exams without hitches

Starehe Boys Centre candidates practice with their instruments ahead of the music exam practical on Wednesday. [Beverlyne Musili, Standard]

The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education practical examinations begun yesterday. Candidates begun with oral and practical exams in French (oral and Braille), German and Arabic.

Other exams scheduled for this week are Kenya Sign Language (practical signing skills), music (practical) and home science (food and nutrition).

Kenya Secondary School Headteachers Association Chairman Kahi Indimuli said the exams begun without hitches, but added that the true test of the preparations put in place will come when written exams begin in 12 days.

“A small number of students register for these practical exams and this forces school principals to take their candidates to one agreed exam centre. For us in Machakos, we have brought our candidates to do the exams at Machakos Girls High School,” said Mr Indimuli, who is also the principal of Machakos Boys High School. He said principals were satisfied with preparations and they were ready to deliver credible exams.

“The security is good. This is an examination that involves a candidate and the examiner. We are done for today and now we are taking the feedback to the county headquarters,” Indimuli said.

Practical exams are scheduled to end on November 1, before written ones start four days later.

At Starehe Boys Centre in Nairobi, chief principal Masaku Muiya was happy with the preparations, saying candidates were ready for the tests.

“The practicals for the German exam went on well. We are ready for the whole exams and our 256 candidates have promised to better last year’s mean score of 8.6 to 10.5,” Mr Muiya said.

The principal thanked Government for putting in place tough measures to prevent cheating.

“We appreciate measures to root out exam irregularities as this will boost the students’ morale and allow them to work hard, knowing that they will compete on a fair ground,” Muiya said.

Kenya High School principal Florah Mulatya said her candidates had prepared well.

Nakuru Boys High School Principal Mike Yator said the institution had only eight students registered for Music Paper One which entails practical assessment.

[Protus Onyango, Kennedy Gachuhi, Mactilda Mbenyewe]