Kenya: 1M students start exams amid rising virus deaths

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – After a 5-month delay, Kenya’s primary school national examinations finally kicked-off on Monday amid a rise in COVID-19 deaths.

The exams for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) will end on Wednesday with 1.187 million candidates appearing nationwide.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) said it had employed measures to ensure all students affected due to floods and COVID-19 among other issues sit for their national exams without interruption.

TSC head Nancy Njeri Macharia said “every child that should sit examinations has been taken care of, every child deserves a chance."

But some parents are worried. Loise Gakii Wangari's child is a student at Salama Primary School in Nairobi.

“As a parent I feel the exams were rushed, but I wish everyone the best of luck," she told Anadolu Agency. “My worry is the safety of our children during the exams."

The KCPE papers are normally scheduled for November but the education calendar was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and students were away from school for almost a year.

As many as 747 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the caseload to 120,910. Some 17 people also died of the disease, pushing the death toll to 2,011.

On March 19, a record 28 coronavirus deaths were confirmed in the East African country.