Magoha mulls reopening schools for candidates

The government is mulling allowing Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates back to school to prepare for examinations as it continues to monitor the situation on the coronavirus pandemic.

Also in the plans is postponement of the national exams if the number of Covid-19 cases continues to surge, making schools unsafe for the learners. These were some of the proposals that emerged yesterday when Education Secretary George Magoha and Principa Secretary Belio Kipsang appeared before the National Assembly Education committee to explain effects of Covid-19 on the Education sector.

In addition, the government is also toying with the idea of conducting learning in sessions which will see one group of learners taught in the morning while another comes in the afternoon, in keeping with Health ministry’s guidelines on social distancing.

Prof Magoha said in the next two weeks, the government in consultation with other stakeholders will make a decision based on various scenarios.

“Some of those scenarios may well see the exams going to next year,” Prof Magoha said. The KCPE exam was scheduled to start on November 2 and end on November 3, while the KCSE exam was to start on November 4 and end on November 30 should the Kenya National Examination Council decide not to postpone the exams. There has been concern about the fate of the examinations following the disruption to the school calendar which has seen candidates lose valuable contact time with their teachers.