It was an unusual exam day at St. Paul’s Lugari Primary School in Lugari Sub-county, Kakamega County, after the names of 23 pupils were discovered missing in the list of registered candidates of the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) 2021.
The matter caused the exams to be delayed past the official time as senior officers thronged the school to take charge of the situation.
According to a credible source who requested for their identity to be protected, it took the intervention of officers from the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) and the Ministry of Education to help save the situation.
“The headteacher discovered that 23 out of 73 names of candidates were missing in the list. She made a follow up and informed the responsible officers,” the source said.
The source further revealed that the school was supplied with a printer which was assigned an officer from KNEC to print extra papers for the candidates.
“The 23 students are well-catered for. Their papers, when submitted, will not be marked by the computer but manually,” it said.
The source dismissed rumors going round that the papers were photocopied using a normal printer.
“All the (relevant) administrative officers have been in the school. The situation is contained,” it said.
An affected candidate, whom we spoke to on phone, confirmed that her paper was different from what other students whose names were on the list were sitting.
“It was a different paper. I even doubted if it was an original exam,” the candidate said, adding that she was told to mark the answers on multiple choices on the question paper.
The area chief Evans Adavaji said that the exams were done well without any issues.
“There were no issues arising. The exams were done as expected,” he said.
Attempts to reach the school headteacher Ms. Ruth Kimalit and the District Education Officer Maxline Igwatai for an explanation were futile. The headteacher couldn’t pick calls and the DEO refused to comment on the matter.
“I know what you want to ask but I am not going to respond to it,” she said and hanged up the call.
Lugari Primary was on the spot last year after it emerged that some students had been barred from registering for KCPE due to poor performance in the Class Eight entry exams, but the school later allowed them after the public learnt of the story.
The KCPE 2021 officially kicked off in schools across the country today with Mathematics, English and English Composition exams.
The candidates will be sitting Science, Kiswahili Lugha and Kiswahili Insha tomorrow and finish with Social Studies and Religious Education on Wednesday.
Sam Oduor is the founder and one of the editors at WKT. With a strong background in Communication and Journalism, Sam is an experienced digital media expert currently building a team of young professionals dedicated to telling the story of our community in a unique, authentic way.
