Ministry Of Education Puts 7 National Schools on Notice over the Process of Form 1 Selection
The Ministry of Education has warned seven national schools over interfering with the Form One selection exercise that is set to happen soon.
Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof George Magoha said that within the next two weeks the 2020 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) shall be released.
CS Magoha said that multiple-choice papers have already been marked and only the English Composition and Kiswahili Insha are the only ones remaining.
“We had a schedule and within the next two weeks, the results will be out,” said CS Magoha.
Besides, the CS said that if there will be changes to the schedule, they will be communicated through the office of CS Education.
The CS was at Kisumu where he supervised the distribution of examination papers to schools in the areas.
The Form One selection is set to start immediately after the marking exercise is completed and results released to the public.
However, via a circular sent to the County Director of Education of Kericho and Nakuru Counties, the Ministry of Education has warned seven national schools that have not followed the Ministry of Education’s guidelines.
According to the Ministry of Education, the seven schools are accused of already selecting their form one students before the marking of the KCPE examinations is even completed.
“The purpose of this letter is to ask you to inform the Principals of the listed schools in your jurisdiction to ensure that they only pre-select candidates who have chosen their schools as per the KNEC database. The National Selection process will ignore the pre-selection of such candidates and place them in schools of their choice and on merit if this instruction is not adhered to,” said the Ministry via a circular.
The schools targeted are as follows:
- Starehe Girls – (Nairobi)
- Starehe Boys Centre – (Nairobi)
- Moi Forces Academy – (Nairobi)
- Utumishi Academy – (Nakuru)
- Utumishi Girls – (Nakuru)
- Moi Forces – Lanet – (Nakuru)
- Moi Tea Girls – (Kericho)
The 2020 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidates will join Form One this July once the marking exercise is completed and form one selection done. This is according to PS Early Learning and Basic Education, Dr. Julius Jwan.
However, Dr. Jwan said that the Ministry has not decided on any specific date for the conduction of admissions of learners to secondary schools this July.
CS Magoha said that all measures are in place to ensure that KCPE results are released in good time.
Besides, the CS said that the COVID-19 global pandemic has caused big problems since some examiners were not able to go for marking because of restrictions that the government imposed so as to curb the pandemic.
Some counties have been partially locked down while other examiners decided not to turn up because of their fear of COVID-19.
CS Magoha said that the challenges experienced have not interfered with the schedule. He added that his Ministry has done all they could to ensure results shall be released as planned.
“As I said, we are on track. We shall keep updating you on the progress, and we shall keep sharing any events that we find necessary,” he said.
Prof Magoha said that his office will continue monitoring the examinations that are going on despite reports of examination irregularities.
“Today marks the third week of the examinations. We are proceeding extremely well if we consider everything. The examination has gone as scheduled, except for a few tricks that I already warned about earlier,” said CS Magoha.
The CS added that actions will be taken against respective owners of mobile phones confiscated during the KCSE examinations.
1,191,725 candidates from 28,467 schools were registered to sit for the KCPE examination.
Almost 1.2 million candidates sat for the 2020 KCPE examination following the reopening of schools in October after the COVID-19 pandemic interfered with the school calendar.
The Government was forced to close schools in March 2020 when the first COVID-19 was reported.
At the moment Kenya is going through the third wave of COVID-19 and it is feared that the third wave could be even more dangerous than even the first wave last year.
The PS urged Kenyans to be sensitive more so when addressing girls who sat for their examinations while pregnant.
“Forcing the girls to name those who impregnated them will contribute to their mental anguish,” said the PS.
However, CS Magoha is facing issues concerning the pay for examination officials. Also, improved conditions for all contracted professionals during the administration of the KCSE examination have also been mooted.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) wants the examination agencies to raise the marking fees for each script by Sh. 50 at the very least. The teachers union attributed this to the prevailing unfavorable economic times.
KUPPET is of the opinion that papers like Chemistry Paper 1, Mathematics, and English Paper 1 should be paid Sh. 100 or more.
At the time of writing this article, every paper is marked at a price of Sh. 51 to Sh. 58.
“Teachers of Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, and Physics) need to be considered for allowances during practical. Other practical subjects like Agriculture, Building & Construction, Music and Home Sciences should be considered too,” said KUPPET Secretary-General Akello Misori.
According to the teachers’ union, the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) increase invigilators’ and supervisors’ allowances by 100 percent saying that the current fee has never changed for a long time.
The union also wants heads of schools also known as center managers’ allowance, which is presently Sh. 500 to be increased.
At the moment, headteachers primary school are paid a flat rate of Sh. 500 for the three days they oversee the KCPE examination.
KCPE supervisors take home Sh. 2,485 while invigilators earn Sh. 1,615. Security officers are paid Sh. 1,050 while drivers earn Sh. 1,040.
KCSE supervisors in Nairobi and Mombasa are paid Sh. 695 per day for a period of 18 days. This translates to Sh. 12,510.
Supervisors from other regions earn Sh. 630 per day for a period of 18 days. This leads to a total amount of Sh. 11,340.
For invigilators in Nairobi and Mombasa, they earn Sh. 580 per day for a period of 17 days while invigilators from other regions earn Sh. 460 for the same number of days.
Secondary school principals earn a flat rate of Sh. 500 for 18 days, a total of Sh. 9,000.
Security officers participating in the administration of the KCSE examination earn a flat rate of Sh. 420 for a period of 16 days. Drivers on their part earn Sh. 6,480 for the same number of days.
On transport reimbursements for supervisors and invigilators for ASAL areas, KUPPET wants the amount to be reviewed upwards since most of the areas are quite expansive and this forces them to travel up to a distance of 200 km to reach their schools.
“The rates for counties like Wajir and Tana River should be enhanced,” said Akello Misori.
KUPPET also wants lecturers who assess and submit marks in Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs) to be paid for their work.
“The same should apply to TVET trainers who assess candidates on practical courses,” said Misori.
Concerning the overall conditions of teachers working conditions, KUPPET wants marking centers to be devolved and probably rotated around the country unlike how it is at the moment where they are only in Nairobi.
KUPPET wants the working hours during marking to be fixed between 8:00 to 5:00 to avoid fatigue.
KUPEET also wants examiners to be given certificates for participating in the examination administration process.
“Examiners should be awarded a certificate of attendance to help improve their CVs for interviews during promotions,” said Misori.
The teachers union last year wanted the venues for marking the KCSE examination papers and KCPE English Composition together with Kiswahili Insha to be assigned to university campuses or other high–level government institutions of education.
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