By Lydia Gichuki
Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha on Saturday said the government will not extend the national examination registration period scheduled to end on May 14. The registration started on April 27, 2022.
The registration is being done at the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) portal.
He was speaking at Kakamega School, where he urged head teachers and principals to ensure all candidates are registered before the deadline. He added those who will fail to do so will face his wrath.
The candidates will be sitting for the KCPE, Kenya Primary School Education Assessment for Grade 6 and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education this November.
According to KNEC, candidates will sit for KCPE exam from November 28 to December 1, 2022 while those sitting for KCSE will do so from December 1 to 23, 2022. Grade six candidates will be assessed in October and November.
Additionally, Magoha directed school principals to ensure all students are admitted regardless of whether they pay tuition fees or not.
He said no child should be turned away due to lack of fee as the government has 9,000 scholarships for such students.
‘When a needy student comes, admit them and give them all the basic requirements and forward their name to us. We will then help them through scholarship,’ he said
Further he urged parents to take their children to school whether they have school fees or not as the government will take care of them.
He said school heads who will be found capable of turning away students over lunch money will be punished.
Meanwhile, will speaking at Kisumu Girls on the same day, Magoha assured that the school together with Kisumu Boys will not be moved from their location as suggested by Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang Nyong’o earlier last week.
Governor Anyang Nyong’o had stated that the current location of the two institutions did not align with the plan to make Kisumu city a commercial hub.
He added that the schools sit on prime land within the Central Business District but do not bring any economic value to the development of the city.
Magoha said such decision needs public participation before it commence.
Locals and the alumni alike had opposed the proposal from last year with the president of the Kisumu Boys School Alumni association, lawyer James Mwamu, threatening to go to court over the matter.
According to the association, the decision was ill-advised and it did not make economic sense that two iconic schools would be replaced with hotels and malls.
Photo Credit; Eduminkenya