Principals Push for Manual KCPE and KCSE Registration System After NEMIS Failure.
In an interview on Citizen TV, Kahi Indimuli, the chairman of Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA), discussed how the use of fake birth certificates during the registration of national examinations was denying students government funding.
Indimuli explained that many students were registering for the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) using random numbers, as the government lacked a system to verify the authenticity of the certificates.
This meant that the affected students could not be registered on the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), as the system rejects fake certificates.
The government relies on the NEMIS when disbursing school funds, and as a result, many principals were forced to look for money from parents to run the institutions.
Indimuli further explained that a person could register for KCPE with any number, and the student would be registered. However, when the certificates are used during secondary school registration, the system rejects them.
This often results in discrepancies in the number of students with authentic papers, leading to challenges in disbursing school funds.
Since the government funding could not match the demands in schools, principals had to look for alternative ways to account for students during the disbursement of capitation.
Therefore, some of them were pushing for a manual system to verify the numbers physically present in schools.
Despite the launch of NEMIS in 2017, under former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime, the system had not been able to solve the problem of fake certificates.
The unique identifier was intended to help the government monitor students’ progress in school and distribute school textbooks.
However, the system’s inability to verify the authenticity of birth certificates had made it challenging to disburse school funds to deserving students.
Indimuli also lamented the delays experienced during the disbursement of funds, with most of the money being dispersed a month into a new term.
This delay often made it challenging for schools to run smoothly, as they required adequate finances for various activities, such as music festivals and school games.
Principals Push for Manual KCPE and KCSE Registration System After NEMIS Failure.