Education CS Prof. George Magoha has spoken out amid reports that KCSE and KCPE candidates were not ready for the national examinations scheduled for March 2021.
The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) on Tuesday, February 2, announced that only 17 out of the 47 counties had a mean score of 50 and above in the recently concluded tests.
Speaking to the press during a tour of a school in Mwiki, the CS refuted claims that the students were bound to fail in the upcoming national examinations.
Magoha noted that the government was aware of that learning had been interrupted during the long break and hinted that the exams had been adjusted to accommodate that.
"I want to tell the examinations classes countrywide that in my opinion, they are doing very well and they do not have to work under tension.
"The examination is just one month away, and the students should be at peace because the government is aware they were out of school for nine months," stated Magoha.
He further noted that the exams also considered the 10-week duration the candidates spent in second term as well as that of third term.
"You can completely ignore the opinion of some of the newspapers who think that we are all going to fail. I can guarantee you that we are not going to fail.
"Those tests were done immediately you opened school," he added.
At the beginning of February, the examinations' body expressed concern over the low results registered across all subjects. According to the report, languages and mathematics signified the lowest drop in performances by students.
"In Sign Language Composition, Mathematics, KSL (Language) English Composition and Kiswahili Composition( Insha) only 25.94%, 34.54%, 36.18%, 39.90%, and 45.19% of the learners respectively attained the minimum proficiency level,” part of the report stated.
Furthermore, the report noted that the students performed poorly in essay based quizzes as opposed to multiple-choice questions.
In the case of mathematics, most students were not proficient in the mastery of key aspects such as ratios, percentages, averages and measurement.
