No student should be left out of national exams

Education CS Amina Mohamed. [Photo: Boniface Okendo, Standard]

As the February 28, deadline for registration of students for this year’s national examinations approaches, the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) estimates that 300,000 students are likely to be left out. Further, the examinations council has ruled out the possibility of an extension to accommodate those who may be late registering.

It would be unfair to force students to miss their national examinations for reasons beyond their control. Prior to the government undertaking to pay examination fees a couple of years back, some head teachers were singled out for deliberately squandering money paid for exams. That is not the case today, hence there could be a plausible excuse for the delay in registration. Efforts should be made to ensure that no student spends longer than is necessary at any stage of learning because of administrative lapses.