MPs Introduce KNEC Supplementary Exams for Sick Students
If the proposal by MPs is adopted, candidates who miss KCPE and KCSE examinations due to illness may be offered supplementary exams.
The Education Committee of the National Assembly has proposed that the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) exempt hospitalized students from exams until they recover.
If this proposal is adopted, both primary and secondary students will be permitted to postpone exams due to illness, as is currently the case for college students.
Committee chairman Julius Melly stated that administering a routine examination to a hospitalized patient or a woman who has recently given birth is not feasible.
The committee discussed potential solutions and considered the possibility of administering future supplemental examinations. Melly added that administering alternative tests that were equivalent would assure a level playing field.
Melly stated, following a meeting with Council chief executive Dr. David Njengere, that despite this being a policy shift, it is possible.
According to statements made by Members of Parliament (MPs), concerns have been raised regarding the feasibility and fairness of requiring a student who has given birth at 6 a.m. to sit for an exam at 8am.
They assert that expecting a student to undertake an examination under such circumstances, with minimal time for physical and mental preparation, is not a reasonable expectation. This practice has been criticized as “incorrect, highly unfair, unkind, and inhumane.”
MPs Introduce KNEC Supplementary Exams for Sick Students
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