Ministry extends KCPE, KCSE registration to 14th August

The Ministry of Education has extended the registration of KCPE and KCSE national exams by two weeks.

In a statement issued today on Monday 2nd August, Education CS Prof George Magoha said the exercise will be extended to August 14, 2021 to allow schools to ensure all candidates are registered.

The exercise, which started on June 2nd, 2021, was scheduled to close on July 31st, this year. The Ministry has since revised the dates following a request by Head Teachers and Principals.

This will be followed by verification of candidates’ registration details between August 16th and 27th, 2021. Those who fail to register for the 2021 examination due in March 2022 will only be allowed to sit the examination in December next year.

“The Head Teachers and Principals are reminded to ensure that all bona fide candidates are registered for the examination within this final two weeks. Any candidate who fails to register for the 2021 examination to be sat in March 2022 will only be allowed to sit the examination in December 2022. Late registration shall not be allowed,” the CS said.

On hosting of schools with less than 30 candidates, CS Magoha stated: “All primary and secondary schools (public and private), with less than thirty (30) candidates will be hosted in schools within their proximity and locality that have more than thirty (30) candidates. All Special Needs Schools will retain their examination centres irrespective of the number of registered candidates.”

Meanwhile, Sub County Directors of Education have been directed to submit the records of hosted schools to the Kenya National Examinations Council by September 10th 2021.

By July 31st, 2021, a total of 1,218,892 candidates in 28,248 centres and 824,392 candidates in 10,384 centres had been registered for the KCPE and KCSE examinations respectively.

Below is the official statement by CS Magoha on status of KCPE and KCSE registration issued earlier today.

REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATES FOR THE 2021 KCPE AND KCSE NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS

Preparations for the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary  Education (KCSE) examinations commenced with the registration  of candidates  starting  from June  2nd,  2021.    

The registration exercise was scheduled to close on July 31st, 2021.

By July 31, 2021, a total of 1,218,892 candidates in 28,248 centres and 824,392 candidates in 10,384 centres had been registered for the KCPE and KCSE examinations  respectively.

In 2020, 1,191,616 and 752,602 candidates were registered for the KCPE and KCSE respectively.  

This represents an increase of 2.29% and 9.54% in candidature in the 2021 KCPE and KCSE respectively compared with 2020. The phenomenal  increase in KCSE  candidature is attributed to the success of the Government’s policy of 100% transition which started  in 2018.

However, since the exercise closed on July 31st, 2021, a number of Headteachers and Principals have requested the Kenya National  Examinations

Council to allow them more time to mop up all candidates that may not have been registered by the deadline owing to one reason or the other, including the school movements attributed  to the effects of COVID-19.

The Government has, therefore, decided to extend the registration deadline by two weeks in order to give an opportunity to schools to ensure all candidates are registered, in the spirit of leaving no child  behind in the education sector.

Therefore, the final registration deadline is  August 14th 2021. The Head Teachers  and Principals  are reminded to ensure that all bona  fide candidates are registered for the examination within this final two weeks.

Any candidate who fails to register for the 2021 examination to be sat in March 2022 will only be allowed to sit the  examination in December  2022. Late registration shall not be allowed.

The registration deadline will  be followed with a  verification of candidates’ registration details as captured  in  the  2021 KCPE and KCSE nominal  rolls between August 16 and 27th, 2021.  

Head Teachers and Principals are informed that the duly signed nominal rolls, and medical reports for candidates with special needs must be submitted to Sub County Directors of Education together with the other registration documents.

HOSTING OF SCHOOLS WITH LESS THAN 30 CANDIDATES

All primary and secondary schools (public and private), with less than thirty (30) candidates will be hosted in schools within their proximity  and locality that have more than thirty (30) candidates as per the KNEC circular KNEC/GEN/EA/EM/KCPE/KCSE/HOSTING/2021/02 of 28th June 2021.

All Special Needs Schools will retain their examination centres irrespective of the number of registered candidates.

For all examination centres with a candidature of less than 30, and which may have legitimate hosting challenges, Sub County Directors of Education will seek guidance from the Kenya National Examinations Council on the way forward.

The Sub County Directors of Education have been  informed  to submit the records of hosted  schools  to the Kenya National  Examinations Council by September 10th 2021.

All stakeholders  are reminded that, to ensure equity, the Government pays examination fees for all primary and secondary  school learners  in  both public and private schools.  

School are only required to register candidates for the examinations. Consequently, schools should not force learners to repeat.

The Government is committed to sustain its efforts to ensure high levels of credibility and integrity in the administration of national examinations.

PROF. GEORGE A.O.  MAGOHA, EGH
CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION