The government on Monday, November 28, airlifted a total of 28 Grade 6 candidates from terror-prone Boni Forest in Lamu County using a military chopper to Faza Secondary, where they will be sitting their Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) exams.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu indicated on Monday morning that the government has taken contingency measures to ensure that every candidate sits for the exam.
"There are certain areas where we have an arrangement of helicopters have been made and we are assuring Kenyans that we are going to present a credible exam," the CS told the press.
Confirming the deployment of choppers in Boni Forest, Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia indicated the learners are from the five Boni Forest primary schools.
The schools from which the learners have been airlifted to Faza Secondary include Basuba, Milimani, Mangai, Mararani, and Kiangwe primary schools.
According to Macharia, the 28 Grade 6 learners together with 8 teachers airlifted by the government to Faza secondary will stay in Faza until they complete their exams.
The County Commissioner assured examination stakeholders that the security department has ensured enough security for all candidates throughout the examination period.
Elsewhere, fifteen schools in Bungoma County have failed to pick exams from the exam centers as KEPSEA for grade six examinations begin.
According to Bungoma South DCC Duncan Okwach, the schools that failed to pick exams were mostly private schools.
Furthermore, Okwach noted that some of the private schools that failed to pick exams had been closed by the ministry of education for not complying with the, ministry’s requirements.
Those schools that failed to pick exams include Bridge School Kibabii, Jamia primary school in Bungoma town and, Gateway primary school among others.
Okwach added that there has been no challenge so far as the tests began in 1,007 KEPSEA and 951 KCPE centers.
“Mt. Elgon is the region that might face a challenge during transportation of exams because of its terrain,” he indicated.
