KNEC sued over 2017 KCSE Results

Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) is under fire over the results of the 2017 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.

Activist Okiya Omtatah has filed a case seeking to compel the Exam Council to release certified copies of the marked answer sheets of each candidate in KCPE and KCSE.

Speaking exclusively to Pulselive.co.ke Mr Omtatah divulged that the Government is required to be transparent hence KNEC should give candidates the marked copies.

“The Government must be transparent, it is a constitutional requirement. You cannot mark my paper and then you do not give it back to me. How do I know what you did with it?” he posed.

Omtatah highlighted that it is imperative to know if the teachers are also working well. The case is set to be heard on January 24, 2018.

This comes in the wake of worrying reports indicating examiners were under pressure to finish marking the papers.

In a report by the Nation, sources privy to the marking process stated that they had to work for long hours which in some instances meant that they marked the exam under a lot of pressure and fatigue.

KNEC had instituted tough measures to guarantee credible results but the examiners have now indicated that some of them were not followed.

“We used to mark the examination papers up to 10 pm and wake up by 5 am so that by 6 am, we are already back into marking centers to continue with the job.”

“Doing the marking at a record time is okay but the fear is that we are compromising quality since we have to hurry and do it under a lot of pressure to beat the deadline and no one wants to lose their job,” the local daily quoted.

At the same time, National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga expressed his worry on the mass failure witnessed in the National exams and called for the formation of a task force to investigate the matter.

In a statement, the former Prime Minister noted that it was worrying that almost 90 percent of the candidate had failed.

“I am however deeply concerned at the high number of students that are failing to make the transition to university.

“The overall number of candidates with minimum university entry qualification, Grade C+ and above stands at only 11.38. Close to 90 percent of the KCSE candidates have failed,” he said.