Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has unveiled plans to hire 286,000 officers to oversee the KCPE and KCSE examinations.
A report by People Daily on Thursday, January 27, indicated that the officers will be hired to aide in the supervision of the exams set to commence in March 2021.
The hiring exercise is expected to be completed by end of February.
The supervisors and invigilators expected to be contracted for the 2020 national exams will be higher than the 170,000 who were hired in 2019.
“An estimated 286,000 field officers will be engaged on agency basis to facilitate in the conduct of exams in the field.
"The field officers contracted for the administration of exams will be expected to register online using the contracted professional CP2 system by February 25,” read a statement from KNEC in part.
The number of supervisors increased due to the increase in exam centers from 27,809 to 28,451 for KCPE while those of KCSE increased from 10,287 to 10,437.
Total candidates also increased from 1.08 million in 2019 to 1.2 million in 2020.
“KNEC has prepared examinations for students with different disabilities namely the blind, low vision, hearing impairment and the physically challenged so that they will not be inconvenienced during the exam," added the statement.
The council also noted that it will provide secure containers for the national exams that will be situated at the Deputy County Commissioners’ (DCC) premises across the country.
They will have a double locking system with only the DCC among the few individuals allowed access.
“The 2020 examinations are being administered under unprecedented circumstances brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The pandemic led to the closure of schools for the better part of 2020 and postponement of national examinations,” added the document.
KCPE examinations are set to start on March 22, 2021, and end on March 24, 2021, while KCSE are scheduled to commence on March 25, 2021 and end on April 16, 2021.
