Best wishes to KCPE examination candidates

Kakamega Primary School headteacher Dickson Wanyangu addresses Standard Eight candidates at the school ahead of their KCPE exams that start today. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations start today. Ideally, they should have been done in December 2020 were it not for Covid-19 that disrupted the school calendar. Learning institutions were closed in March 2020 as a precautionary measure against the spread of Covid-19.

Grade Four and Class Eight pupils as well as Form Four students resumed learning in October 2020 in readiness for these exams. It is our hope that they are fully prepared despite the prevailing circumstances.

Having undergone eight years of rigorous primary schooling, candidates should be confident enough to tackle the exams that mark the end of one segment of the long journey in education while also preparing them for the next segment.

National examinations are a measure for gauging how well individual learners grasped what they were taught and should not cause unnecessary panic.

On its part, the government has a duty to ensure there are no hitches in the delivery of exam materials and that all avenues that could lead to cheating are sealed. Candidates in insecurity prone areas will rely on the government to provide security for them during this period.

Candidates have learnt under difficult conditions and are sitting their exams at a time that the country is experiencing the third wave of Covid-19. We urge teachers to ensure health protocols are observed during this period so that learners write the exams and go home in good health.

We believe teachers have done their best to ensure learners have recovered what they lost during the long period of closure. Online classes, for those who had access to them, helped but nothing beats a physical class. We wish each and every student success in these very important exams.