It’s all systems go as 24, 353 class eight pupils in Machakos county prepare to sit for their KCPE papers beginning on Tuesday.
A spot check by KNA revealed that majority of candidates within Machakos town and its environs were ready for the big day after going through the rehearsals early in the day.
The Head teacher at Muslim Township Primary School, Raphael Mulela told KNA they were confident the school would post exemplary performance when the results come out.
He said teachers had done their part in preparing the pupils and it was now time for the 98 candidates to put pen to paper and prove their critics wrong.
“We have started off well with rehearsals. We have 98 students who will occupy five classes with at least 19 pupils in each of the rooms,” he said when we visited the school.
County Director of Education Shamsa Adan says all necessary preparations have been put in place to guarantee the success of the process.
“All the necessary preparations to make this year’s exams a success in Machakos have been completed including briefing of invigilators who will be taking part in overseeing the process,” said Adan when we inquired the county’s preparation towards the exams.
It has also emerged that more girls than boys have registered to sit for this year’s KCPE exams in Machakos County.
According to Ms. Adan out of the 24, 353 candidates 12, 446 are girls, a major gender balance shift from previous years.
On October 19 this year Lukenya Assistant County Commissioner, Elizabeth Karitu was interdicted after she allegedly lost a key to one of the 14 containers being used to hold examination materials in Machakos.
According to Police, the administrator alleges to have gone to Avenue Hospital but on coming home found her car broken into and her handbag which contained the keys missing.
The Interior and Nation Coordination Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred Matiang’i together with his Education counterpart, Prof. George Magoha has assured the public that all security concerns in regard to the administration of the exams have been taken into consideration and warned of tough action against anyone found compromising the security of the examinations.
Today morning candidates will sit for Mathematics and English papers before writing their English composition in the afternoon.
On Wednesday they are expected to sit for Science, Kiswahili papers before winding up with Insha.
The curtain is expected to fall on Thursday when the candidates sit for their Social Studies papers.
This year a total of 1, 089, 671 candidates are expected to sit for KCPE exams compared to 1, 060, 703 last year.
Similarly 698, 935 students are set to sit for the KCSE papers this year compared to 664, 585 candidates in 2018.
By Samuel Maina/Geoffrey Wanyoike/Angela Moriet
