Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok has warned schools against blocking learners from sitting for national examinations, citing a lack of funds.
Speaking during the official opening of the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) exams in Kibra on Monday, October 27, Julius Bitok announced that the government has released all the funds, including capitation funds, to ensure that schools cater to learners during the national examinations, which have already commenced.
The PS has assured that the government has released additional funds to cater for the administration of the examinations, ensuring a seamless process.
"The government has given all the money to cater for all the candidates, and nobody should have any excuse for why they should not be facilitated to do these examinations," the PS said.
"We have sent capitation to all our schools, and so there is no reason whatsoever for a school to complain that they have not received the money, particularly those who have complied with the school data verification exercise," he added.
For months, school heads across the country had warned that the lack of timely capitation might compromise their ability to administer the national examinations to learners effectively.
However, the Ministry of Education insisted that it had to first conduct the verification process before releasing the funds to ensure that the government disburses funds to legitimate primary, junior, and secondary schools and students.
According to the ministry, over 50,000 ghost students in secondary schools were discovered during the verification process.
National Examinations
The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) is scheduled to take place from October 27 to October 30, while the Kenya Intermediate Level Education Assessment (KILEA), which targets learners with special needs at the intermediate level, will run from October 27 to October 31.
On the other hand, the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) and the Kenya Pre-Vocational Level Education Assessment (KPLEA) will be conducted over nine days, starting on October 27 and concluding on November 6.
The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) is currently in its second week.
"I call upon all the teachers and invigilators to ensure that they administer these examinations professionally. We don't expect anything short of professional administration of the 2025 KPSEA, KJSEA, and KCSE," Bitok said.
The PS further assured that the government has laid out solid systems to ensure that the transition of students after the national examination is also smooth.
