Six KCPE pupils deliver during final exam day

By Naftal Makori and James Munyeki

Six Kenya Certificate of Primary Education candidates delivered at various health facilities as the examination entered its final day.

In Kisumu, Education County Director Beatrice Adu said they had two cases of deliveries but made sure the girls continued with their exams without hitches.

“We had one case in Kisumu West and another in Kisumu Municipality. The girls continued with their exams as required by the law,” she said.

In Nyamira County, education officials led by area District Education Officer Titus Mbatha had to make quick arrangements to have a 15-year-old girl sit for her final paper in Social Studies on Thursday morning.

The Girigiri Primary School in Nyamira South District candidate, whose mother died a year ago, is an orphan. She went into labour on Wednesday after sitting the Kiswahili and Science papers.

By 10am, the girl had not started writing her exam since the school’s head teacher had not communicated to the education officials, a situation that angered District Examinations Officer Barnabas Bambara.

Urgent matter

It was after The Standard called Mr Mbatha that the education officials learnt about the matter and urgently made appropriate arrangements.

Laikipia Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers Executive Secretary Ndung’u Wangenye decried the rate at which schoolgoing children in the region were getting pregnant.

On Wednesday, two other girls delivered but were also helped to do the examination while in hospital.

One was a pupil at Kebirigo Omax Academy while the other was from Gucha Primary School. The other candidate in Laikipia delivered just before she sat her exam.