Government moves to trace missing 261,000 KCSE candidates

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The Government has embarked on a mission to trace the missing 261,000 candidates who should have sat for the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.

The Ministry of Education has collaborated with the Kenya Bureau of Statistics in efforts to unearth the mystery of the learners who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams four years ago but could not proceed to sit for KCSE.

The worrying statistics attracted the attention of education stakeholders, putting the Government’s 100 per cent transition policy under question.

According to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), 1.2 million candidates sat for the KCPE examinations in 2022, but only 1,048,355 registered to sit for this year’s KCSE that started on Monday across the country.

Going by the numbers, it means that one out of every five KCPE candidates who sat for the KCPE exams in 2022 did not proceed to sit for the Form Four tests.

More worrying statistics from KNEC reveal that one in every 10 learners who sat the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) could not be accounted for after it emerged that 75,000 learners were missing from the register of the candidates who sat for the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA).

KNEC revealed that 1.28 million learners sat for KPSEA in 2023, but only 1.21 million sat for KJSEA, representing a shortfall of 5.87 per cent of the expected candidature.

In total, 261,000 learners who sat lower-level national tests and were expected to proceed into the next stage but their whereabouts cannot be immediately known.

Addressing journalists on Monday in Borabu sub-county during the commissioning of the KCSE examinations, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said the Government had taken note of the developments but ruled out the possibility that the learners may have dropped out of school midway or may not have transitioned to secondary schools.

“There are different reasons as to why the learners may not have transitioned because there is a possibility some may have changed course or go for technical training, but to be sure, we have instructed a team from the Ministry to find out from the Kenya Bureau of Statistics and come up with a comprehensive report on the matter,” Ogamba said.

However, the CS said even with the decrease in the expected number of KCSE candidates, the country registered the highest number of candidates in the tests, having enrolled 1.05 million candidates for this year’s examinations.

Ogamba noted that this was an increment from the 2025 candidature, which was at 996,000; that translates to a 5 per cent increment.

Mr Ogamba further said KPSEA registration had shot to 1.4 million from 1.3 million who sat last year.

The CS said a total of around 3.6 million learners sat for the lower school assessments in the country.

While supervising the official opening of the English Paper One at St Kizito Nyansiongo Boys in Nyamira County, Ogamba warned centre managers and examination officers manning the National tests against use of mobile phones in their centers, saying the gadgets posed a severe threat to the integrity of the exams.

To enhance the security of the examination papers while at the distribution depot, Ogamba said KNEC had introduced smart padlocks as a foolproof measure to guard the integrity of the tests.

“The safety measure of using smart padlocks ensures that all containers should be able to reflect to the Council the exact time they were opened. That will mean that any attempt to open the container securing the tests earlier than the prescribed time will be detected and security concerns escalated,” Ogamba explained.

He assured all stakeholders that the Government had done all it could to ensure the expected long rains do not tamper with the delivery of the tests.

“We are ready for any eventualities and emergency measures are in place to make sure even adverse weather conditions do not halt the examination processes,” He assured.