On 20 November 2018, Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said 8,347 pupils who registered for that year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination did not show up for the tests.
She made the announcement in Mombasa while releasing the results, and said the number of absentee candidates had fallen by 14.18 per cent from 9,726 in 2017.
“I have asked the quality assurance and standards directorate in the ministry to track down the candidates,” the minister said.
Mohamed said Nairobi had the highest number of KCPE candidates at 59,302, followed by Nakuru with 52,910, Kakamega with 50,860 and Bungoma with 48,001.
She also pointed to measures meant to support learners with special needs. According to the CS, the ministry had continued to roll out interventions to help such children perform better in school.
“Additionally, we prepared and administered special national examination papers for candidates with special needs in line with the President’s directive. We have also increased financing for special and integrated schools,” she said.
Mohamed said a National Psycho-Education Assessment and Research Centre at the Kenya Institute of Special Education in Nairobi was ready for launch.
She added that 2,495 candidates with special needs sat the 2018 examination, and the best scored 446 marks out of 500. In 2017, 2,038 special-needs candidates sat the test, and the top score was 426 marks.
“This improvement is testimony to the fact that given a fair and conducive environment, children with special needs can excel in their studies,” the minister said.
The 2018 KCPE ran from October 30 to November 1, with 183,497 professionals contracted to administer it. The team included 27,354 supervisors, 65,107 invigilators, 54,322 security officers, 27,161 centre managers, 918 examination management directors, 1,844 security officers guarding containers with examination materials, and 6,791 drivers.
In total, 1,052,364 candidates sat the exam in 2018. Of these, 527,294 were male, representing 50.10 per cent, while 525,070 were female, representing 49.90 per cent. The 2017 KCPE had 993,718 candidates.
