Parents in court over KCPE results, seek suspension of Form One selection

The dispute over the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results has landed in court with parents from two institutions seeking to block Form One selection.

Two parents whose children were candidates at Kitengela International School and Set Greenhill Academy Mixed Day and Boarding and Junior School in their case filed on Monday questioned how Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) marked and graded their children.

They accused Knec of giving the students poor scores, claiming this was a first for the learning institutions and the children.

Pius Kiio filed the first case. His lawyer Danstan Omari stated that Kiio's son was a KCPE candidate.

According to Omari, the minor was an excellent learner whose final results did not reflect his academic capability.

The court papers read that Kitengela International had majority of the learners scoring 400 marks and above in school exams. However, the national exams indicated that the KCPE candidates managed 358 marks and below.

Kitengela International has written to Knec, lamenting that the results were not a true reflection of what the candidates had been scoring.

In court, Omari said that Kiio's son is now disturbed owing to the low KCPE score.

He argued that it is in public knowledge that the examination was marred with irregularities.

Omari asked the court to stop the Form One placement until the case is determined.

"It is a matter of local notoriety that there were widespread irregularities in the 2023 KCPE exam results and thus the integrity of the marking process has been called to question," said the lawyer.

"The prayer is for this honourable court to take judicial notice of the uproar by the teachers, students and the public after the results of the exam were announced as there were alleged serious anomalies in the marking of the examinations," he added.

In his supporting affidavit, Kiio stated that the minor had been scoring exceptionally well in exams for the last three years.

He said the expectation was that the good results in other exams ought to have been similar or close to the KCPE results.

Kiio claimed that the release of KCPE results was rushed and that it would only add salt to injury if the minor got admission to a school that was not of his choice.

"Petitioner states that the release of the said examinations by the second respondent was rushed and he believes that is why his child was allocated a lower mark than what he deserved making his child go through mental stress and torture for which he prays for general damage," said Omari.

Everlyn Omwoyo filed the second case.

She stated that her child was a candidate at Set Greenhill Academy.

Ms Omwoyo too complained that Knec indicated that her son scored 337 marks.

However, according to her, the marks are not what her son had been scoring in school exams. She argued that the examiners must have lowered his marks.

Omwoyo stated that it was unclear how her son's school had this year scored low results despite posting impressive performance for the past three years.

In a separate case filed by lawyer Omari, Omwoyo stated that her son was a bright child whose future in secondary school had illegally been sealed with a stroke of a pen.

"The prayer to this court is for this honourable court to take judicial notice of the uproar by the teachers, students, and the public after the results of the exam were announced as there were alleged serious anomalies in the marking of the examinations," said Omwoyo.

The parents sued Knec, the Education Ministry, the Attorney General, and the Teachers Service Commission.