Candidates from five schools in Baringo County county will sit their 2022 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) exams from one centre.
Cheromongoin Primary School Headteacher Elijah Kiptoon explained that the last-minute changes were effected after the schools failed to rebuild the classrooms vandalised by bandits.
"The schools were vandalised by bandits and the infrastructure requires a lot of rehabilitation," Kiptoon explained.
Baringo south Member of Parliament (MP) Charles Kamuren stated that the decision was made to guarantee the safety of the candidates during the exam period.
Kamuren noted that the spontaneous attacks by the armed bandits made it impossible for area residents to settle in one part of the area.
This meant that most families would be forced to move from one area to another in search of safety which could cause some of the candidates to miss some exams.
Consequently, security at Cheromongin School has been beefed up to ensure that all candidates in the examination centre and officials are safe.
Kiptoon admitted that the closure of some schools in the area affected the level of preparedness of the learners who will sit the national test.
However, he expressed confidence that they will perform well in their respective national tests, with the Grade Six cohort being the pioneer class to sit the KPSEA test.
President William Ruto's government announced that it will provide meals for school-going children, especially during the exam period.
On November 25, teachers raised concerns about the conflicting time schedules for the Class Eight and Grade six exams adding that they would have to use different bells to indicate timing.
A total of 2.5 million candidates will sit the exams beginning on Monday, November 28 - 1,244,188 (KCPE) and 1,287,597 (KPSEA).
