President Kenyatta shakes hands with Education PS Belio Kipsang outside State House Mombasa on Thursday/PSCU
MOMBASA, Kenya, Dec 29 – President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday received a comprehensive report on the 2016 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Examination from the Ministry of Education and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) ahead of the release of the results.
The President congratulated the team, comprising the Ministry of Education and all its relevant agencies, for delivering credible results, noting that the Jubilee administration’s reform plan of restoring the integrity of the Kenyan national examinations system has progressed at a commendable pace.
President Kenyatta also assured candidates of the 2016 KSCE that whatever results they got, there was still hope and possibility to make it to their career of choice.
He said although there was a significant drop in the performance in this year’s KCSE examinations, compared to the previous year, the results by and large posited a normal performance curve – a clear indication are that the examinations marking and final results are credible.
The Head of State directed the Ministry of Education to put in place effective plans to institutionalise the ongoing reforms in the sector to ensure sustainability and entrenchment.
He emphasised that there was no room for sliding back on the ongoing reforms, saying no effort should be spared in ensuring the Ministry moves to the next parts of the sector to safeguard proper utilisation of exchequer resources, eradicate wastage and bureaucratic inertia that often lead to failure in the achievement of set targets.
To enhance efficiency in the utilisation of resources, the President directed Education Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred Matiangi, to speed up the implementation of the Education Information Management System planned to ensure that education data in the country is accurate, current and available to facilitate accurate decision making and deployment of resources.
He also ordered the Ministry of Education and all its partners and agencies, including the Teachers Service Commission, to ensure they complete a comprehensive digitization of all their records and programmes within the next one year.
The President directed that with effect from 2017, the Kenya National Examinations Council should cease the use of index numbers and instead ensure all registered examination candidates have unique personal identifiers (UPIs) in Student Registration Numbers (SRNs) that they will use throughout their presence, at all levels, in the Kenya education system.
The report was presented to the President by Education Cabinet Secretary Dr Matiangi, Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, KNEC Chairman Prof George Magoha, Teachers Service Commission Chairperson Dr Lydia Nzomo and CEO Nancy Macharia.
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