Foreign delegation in Kenya to observe processing of 2023 KCSE exam results

A foreign delegation comprising education experts from six countries in Africa is in Kenya to observe the ongoing processing of the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results.

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) announced on Monday, December 18 that the officials from foreign examination boards hail from Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, South Sudan, Zambia, and Eswatini.

The officials are members of the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA).

KNEC CEO David Njeng’ere, who hosted the delegation at the KNEC headquarters in Nairobi, is the president of AEAA.

“Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) CEO, Dr David Njengere, welcomes guests from foreign examinations boards who are in Kenya this week to observe the processing of 2023 KCSE examination,” KNEC said in a statement.

During the event, the KNEC boss noted that Kenya is open to exchange of ideas and collaboration with other examination boards across Africa to set common standards.

This year’s KCSE results are expected to be announced soon following the completion of the marking exercise last week.

More than 900,000 candidates sat for the 2023 KCSE examination, which commenced in October 2023 and concluded on November 24.

KNEC on the spot over KCPE result errors

KNEC has in recent weeks been on the spot over errors witnessed in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam results.

KNEC, however, blamed its SMS service provider for the errors that sparked protests from various quarters.

In the results announced on November 23, some candidates had a misalignment of the marks and grades as marks for the Kenya Sign Language subject were inaccurately assigned to candidates instead of the Kiswahili Language in which they were examined.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu also passed the blame to the SMS provider when he appeared before the National Assembly’s education committee.

While acknowledging the errors, Machogu affirmed that the system hitch only affected results received via SMS, adding that the results on the KNEC portal were accurate.

“As a CS, I have learnt lessons because you can see as a ministry, everything was right. Somebody we can call an outsider was given the contract but did not conform and do to the required standard.

“Moving forward, when we release the KCSE examinations, we will not be able to make use of the same service provider,” he stated.

The CS further disclosed that the ministry was mulling the deployment of a website, where candidates would be able to access their results at no cost.

“I am already engaging ICT we see whether we can be able to develop a website that members of the public can be able to access free of charge. When we release our KCSE anytime soon,” Machogu told the MPs.

Currently, it costs Ksh25 to access national exam results via SMS.