Schools warned against collecting money from KCPE, KPSEA parents

Headteachers have been warned against demanding any money from candidates who are scheduled to begin national exams on Monday.

Education ministry’s director general Paul Kibet said some school heads have been reported to be asking parents to pay money for facilitation and lunch during the examinations, contrary to government directives.

“This goes against ministry guidelines issued earlier on illegal levies. Provision of lunch for candidates shouldn’t be forced on parents. All field officers are instructed to stop this and report such cases to this office immediately. Action will be taken against any officer in whose jurisdiction such cases are reported,” said Mr Kibet in a circular to county directors of education dated November 24, 2022.

Many complaints from parents have been received claiming to have been asked for money to cater for lunch for supervisors, invigilators and security personnel.

“Children are being threatened that if they don’t pay they won’t sit the national exams. This is becoming a psychological torture at this time to learners,” said one parent.

Learners in Grade 6 and Standard 8 rehearsed yesterday in preparation for their examinations that begin on Monday next week, while those in other classes have already closed school to allow the candidates to sit their examinations.

During the rehearsal, the candidates were introduced to their supervisors and invigilators and taken through the examination guidelines.

Grade 6 learners will be undertaking the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), while those in Standard 8 will do the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination.

KPSEA will comprise five papers: mathematics, English, integrated science, Kiswahili and creative arts and social studies.

The questions will be in multiple choice format, a departure from the school-based assessments under the competency-based curriculum (CBC) where learners are assessed using rubrics.

They will also not write English composition and Kiswahili insha, as these are assessed in school.

The assessment will account for 40 per cent in each paper, while the formative school-based assessments they undertook in Grade 4–6 account for 60 per cent. The latter scores are already in the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) databank. 

The change was necessitated by the need to reduce the cost of logistics. The government allocates Sh4 billion to Knec for exams. However, no extra cash was factored in the current budget despite an increase of more than 1.35 million candidates.