A stern action will be taken against any private or public school management that ordered children to pay for registration of Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha reiterated that the government will firmly deal with schools that asked for money to register candidates only for them to miss in the exams register.
Magoha said that while all the unregistered candidates will not be penalized or denied the opportunity to sit the national papers, school managements found culpable of occasioning their de registration will face the full force of the law.
He said that the Ministry of Education will be forced to order for photocopying of examination papers to allow the candidates missing in the exam list to do their exams.
Speaking when he witnessed the opening of an examination container in Thika West, Kiambu County yesterday, Magoha said his ministry had established a command center where any hiccup in the process should be reported for swift action.
While lauding the learners for swift recovery from Covid-19 shocks that saw schools across the country closed for seven months, the CS urged Kenyans to pray for the candidates as it was the first time in history for exam candidates to sit their papers in the current conditions.
He however noted that the Covid-19 precipitated challenges would not occasion permanent scars in the lives of candidates or even impact their performance in the exams.
He reiterated that exams materials are serialized and secure to avert any malpractices adding that with the measures the government has put in place, the integrity process shall remain unquestionable.
To facilitate honesty in the process, every examination center will be manned by two police officers whose mandate will be to ensure that the exams are done with utmost truthfulness.
In the new conditions, all candidates will be required to properly wear their masks, sanitize and have their body temperatures measured.
The candidates will also undergo a thorough body search conducted by the invigilators before they are allowed in the examination centers.
In Thika, two KCPE candidates will continue to take the national exams from the hospital.
One of the candidates was involved in a road accident but Magoha revealed that they are stable and able to take the exams.
The process, he said will be spearheaded by all government agencies including officers from the Ministry of Education, Interior and Coordination, Teachers Services Commission among others.
Magoha stated that there were a few hiccups during the opening of the 479 containers countrywide as a few examination supervisors arrived late.