The forthcoming national examinations for will be administered and marked by the highest number of teachers so far, 250,000.
The examinations will also involve the highest number of candidates in the history of the country, over 3 million. Teachers Service Commission will deploy more than 250,000 teachers as centre managers, supervisors, invigilators and examiners.
The unprecedented three sets of examinations in basic education will also present a tough test for new Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu, who will be expected to deliver credible examinations.
Grade 6 learners will sit the inaugural Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) ahead of their transition to junior secondary school in January. This is the first cohort under the competency-based curriculum (CBC).
They will have rehearsal on Friday, November 25 and the assessment from Monday, November 28 to Wednesday, November 30.
The assessment will run concurrently with the KCPE examinations for candidates in Standard 8.
KCSE examinations will begin on Friday, December 2 and run until December 23.
Knec has not yet released the official data, but TSC, in its latest edition of Image magazine puts the number of learners in Grade 6 at 1,268,830.
The KCPE candidature is expected to be about 1,230,000 while those in Form 4 are about 880,000.
Last week, the CEO of Knec, Dr David Njeng’ere, briefed the chief examiners in Nairobi on the conduct of the examinations.
Last month, Nancy Macharia, instructed sub-county directors to identify and vet suitable teachers to be involved in the exams.
Further, one supervisor will be in charge of at least 200 candidates while an invigilator will manage 20 candidates.
Heads of institutions function as centre managers, while the supervisors and invigilators come from other schools. Only teachers working for Knec will be involved.
Knec will be hard-pressed to curb irregularities amid reports that fraudsters have already started circulating information that they can sell examination materials to candidates.
Dr Njeng’ere warned candidates against falling victim to the fraudsters and assured them that all exam materials are in safe custody.
The KPSEA will comprise multiple-choice questions only because the writing is covered by the school-based assessments.
Candidates will be issued personalised mark sheets that bear their names and assessment numbers.
