Number of teachers to supervise, mark 2021 KCSE, KCPE exams announced

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has assigned 242,406 teachers national exam supervision and marking duties.

Speaking at an inter-ministerial address at the Kenya School of Government on Friday, February 18, TSC boss Nancy Macharia said the teachers will be presented to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) to serve as invigilators, supervisors, centre managers and examiners.

“Only the best cream of teachers, those who do not have any known disciplinary issues, have been identified as part of the Commission’s determination to guarantee integrity in examination administration,” she said.

“However, the Commission has excluded all female teachers who will be serving their maternity leave during the examination period to ensure they attend to their infants without disruption,” she added.

The CEO also announced the recalling of all TSC field officers on leave, starting Monday, February 21 “to ensure there are no gaps in service”.

“As a result, we will be cancelling all annual leave and field activities for all sub-county, county and regional officers during the examination period,” said Macharia.

The TSC chief announced that 100 per cent of teachers in primary and secondary schools countrywide have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

On CBC, Macharia said 229,292 teachers have so far been trained on implementation of the curriculum ahead of Grade Six roll-out.

“Further training will be conducted in April [2022] as part of the deliberate plan to train all teachers,” she said.

KNEC chief executive officer Dr David Njeng'ere said 1,225,507 candidates have enrolled for the 2021 KCPE, while 831,015 will sit the KCSE test.

The enrolments represent a relatively significant increase from last year's candidate population.

Thirty-three thousand, seven hundred and fifty-five (33,755) more candidates will sit the 2021 KCPE compared to the 2020 exam. In the 2020 KCPE, 1,191,752 candidates registered for the national test.

The 2021 KCSE class has seen a significant increase in enrollment from 2020; 78,034 more candidates will write the secondary examination. In the 2020 KCSE, 752,981 registered for the final exam.

“KCPE centres will be served from 491 distribution centres, while KCSE centres will be served from 483 distribution centres,” said Njeng'ere.

The 2021 KCPE exam will be taken between March 7, 2022, and March 9, 2022.

KCSE exam, on the other hand, will run from February 28, 2022, to April 1, 2022.

In KCPE 2020, twelve thousand, four hundred and sixteen (12,416) candidates did not write the national test despite registering for the exam.

Nine thousand, three hundred and seventy-three (9,373) students did not sit for KCSE 2020 despite enrolling for the test.

The Ministry of Education said the candidates missed the exams because of the Covid-19 crisis, early marriage and adolescent pregnancy.