Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has been criticized for allowing students who never sat last year’s KCPE exams to join Form One.
On Monday, Machogu announced that the students who failed to sit 2023 KCPE will be allowed to join Form 1 so that they do exams later.
The statement has not gone down well with the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and Homa Bay County Education Network.
The two organizations have criticized Machogu’s declaration.
Homa Bay KUPPET Executive Secretary Stephen Yogo and Homa Bay County Education Network Coordinator Julius Omuga said allowing the students to join form one without sitting KCPE will erode education standards in Kenya.
Yogo said the students should not join form one before sitting KCPE examination.
Instead, he proposed that the students should be given a supplementary examination before joining Form 1.
“Exam is a way of measuring the standards of a candidate for approval. It’s wrong to allow the students to join form one without sitting KCPE because they’re not subjected to an examination before they join secondary schools,” Yogo said.
Yogo argued that the 100 per cent transition policy should not be misunderstood to mean that even students who did not sit KCPE are qualified to join Form 1.
He said that such a declaration would set bad precedence that the 100 per cent transition means any child should join form one whether they merit it or not.
“There is a need for consultation before such decisions because they will set a different precedence in the country. A hundred per cent transition policy should not be misconstrued to mean that even children who did not sit KCPE should join form one,” he said.
Omuga argued that Machogu’s announcement was illegal.
He argued that Machogu’s announcement was contrary to the Basic Education Act.
“What CS Machogu is trying to do is not factored in law. It is wrong to allow a child who never sat KCPE to join form one,” Omuga said.
He argued that Machogu will jeopardize education standards in the country.
“This is a way of eroding the value of education in Kenya. He should rescind that decision,” Omuga added.
