Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo has assured the public that
national assessment exams are progressing smoothly across the country.
Omollo said no major incidents have been reported since the start of the Kenya
Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Junior School Education
Assessment (KJSEA) began on Monday, attributing the success to strong
coordination between government agencies.
“Since these assessment exams began we have not had any major incidents worth worrying about. This is because of the good coordination and collaboration that has happened between all the players,” he said.
Speaking on Wednesday, when he opened an examination container at the
Starehe Deputy County Commissioner’s office as part of the government’s
oversight on the ongoing national examinations, the PS said the Ministry of
Interior has been working closely with the Ministry of Education to ensure
adequate security and logistical support during the exams.
He said more than 600 containers have been distributed across sub-counties
for the safe storage and dispatch of examination materials.
Omollo acknowledged that the ongoing short rains had created access challenges in some areas, leading to minor delays in the distribution of exam papers.
However, he said teams on the ground had acted swiftly to ensure the
integrity of the tests was not affected.
“We have had isolated incidents. The short rains have just begun, and there
are challenges of access to certain places where we've had delays in the
distribution of examination papers. But again, the teams have worked around the
clock to ensure the integrity of the assessment examination is not
compromised,” he said.
He cited an incident in Tana River County which, he noted, had already been
resolved.
The PS added that contingency plans were in place to airlift examination materials to hard-to-reach areas if necessary.
Omollo also confirmed that a few candidates had fallen ill or been hospitalised during the exam period, but authorities had made arrangements to ensure they were able to sit their papers.
“We have had a few cases of students falling sick or being hospitalised but again the teams have worked to ensure they are still able to do the examinations,” he said.
The assessment exams are being conducted nationwide under tight security and
monitoring by both the Ministries of Education and Interior.
The Interior Principal Secretary reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to safeguarding the integrity of the national examination process through coordinated multi-agency efforts across all sub-counties.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education reaffirmed that reported cases of delays
and misplaced examination papers had been resolved.
"Despite a few minor hitches, both the Kenya Primary School Education
Assessment (KPSEA) and the KJSEA have been administered successfully. The Kenya
National Examinations Council (KNEC) swiftly resolved isolated cases of
misplaced or misdelivered papers, ensuring every learner sat for their exams
without disruption," Basic Education PS, Julius Bitok said.
