Government to merge schools in the Kerio Valley ahead of KCPE, KCSE exams

The government has assured parents, teachers and learners in the North Rift volatile areas of their security during the national examinations set to begin on March 7, in a week's time.

Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Mohammed Maalim said the government has put in place swift measures that will see the exams undertaken without interruption.

Among the measures, is the merger of schools with less than thirty candidates and offering boarding facilities to all the candidates to minimize movement in the region.

“We shall implement the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) directive of merging examination centres with less than 30 candidates. Stakeholders and parents should not worry about the merged centres because day schools will offer boarding facilities for the entire examination period,” Maalim stated.

Exanimation material shall also be accorded security, to and from the examination centres, as the transporters may also be on the radar of the bandits who are wreaking havoc in the region.

Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Mohammed Maalim Makueni County Commissioner Mohammed Maalim (twitter) Pulse Live Kenya

“We shall have a heavy police presence to patrol the entire region and as well escort the examination materials to and from the centres to the containers for safekeeping,” the RC stated.

The Kerio Valley region has seen tensions grow with the latest attacks claiming the lives of eight people, among them two minors.

After the attack, Maalim ordered health workers in the region not to treat anyone with gunshot wounds without reporting to the authorities.

“We are also calling on health workers in the region to desist from treating people with gunshot wounds without reporting to the police to ascertain where they sustained them from,” stated Maalim

Leaders from the region are calling on the president to take further action asking the president to deploy the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) in the region to restore sanity on the bandit ridden zone.

Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno said it was time for a new force as the police had proven unable to calm the situation.