The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), is set to start printing exam papers locally, according to Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha.
Speaking to the press at Allidina Visram High School in Mombasa on Sunday, February 6, Prof Magoha hinted at the possibility of KNEC sourcing a local printer for the the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
The Education boss revealed that the ministry had plans to start publishing the exams in the country, but it would only be possible once the Competency Based Curriculum(CBC) is fully operational.
"Do you think that you, me and our relatives are ready to print the exams in Kenya? It is coming, once CBC takes route," the CS declared.
Magoha stated that under the current curriculum, the capacity of learners is solely gauged by a single exam. This brings a negative hype towards the national test and the ripple effect is that some rogue players attempt to cheat.
He added that to counter this, the CBC will assess students based on competence and the exam will only come in as a supplementary.
"It will be done because the premiumness of the examination will be done. The child would have got 60 per cent on assessment, so maybe that time you can say for the 40 per cent, let us set it here (in Kenya)," Magoha noted.
On January 28, professor Magoha led a team from the Ministry and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) that travelled to the United Kingdom, where the national exams are currently printed.
According to KNEC, the council spends an estimated Ksh6,000 per student sitting national exams, an amount that is likely to increase.
In December 2021, the examinations council announced that it was Ksh6 billion short of its Ksh50.6 billion budget for the period between 2021 and 2026. As such, the cost of the O and A-Level exams are expected to rise.
KNEC argued that the government allocations remained constant for the last two years while the cost of administering exams has increased.
