Schools Accused Of Ignoring Age Entry policy, 308,000 KCPE Candidates Aged Below 12 Years.
Education stakeholders have expressed concern about the large number of underage candidates who took the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations in 2021.
In a statement addressing the state of primary education in the country, the Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI) accused schools of failing to follow the age of school entry policy.
“Schools seem to have ignored the policy on the age of school entry. This year’s exams had 308,000 candidates aged 12 and below,” said RELI Country Lead, Dr Samuel Otieno.
Prof George Magoha, Cabinet Secretary for Education, released the results on Monday, indicating an increase in the number of underage candidates from 26,378 (2.21 percent) in 2020 to 33,627 (2.74 percent) in 2021.
According to the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) guidelines, a child should begin school at the age of six and complete the primary schooling cycle in class eight at the age of thirteen.
Dr. Otieno expressed concern that schools that violate the policy are directly interfering with children’s development, and he called on the government to sanction schools that do so.
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“While evidence indicates that underage learners outperform their over-age counterparts, the policy is well justified as it aligns to the child’s growth and development,” said Dr Otieno.
“It would be justified for schools that are openly flouting this policy to face sanctions by the government,” he added.
The RELI CEO also emphasized the importance of the government identifying areas where policy violations are most prevalent and devising solutions to the problem.
Magoha reported that the counties with the most underage candidates were Baringo (1,302), Bomet (1,932), Kericho (1,846), West Pokot (947), and Nyamira (1,111).
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Except for Nyamira, these counties saw a similar trend in the 2020 KCPE examination.
RELI is a peer learning initiative and policy influencing network comprised of 70 East African organizations working to achieve equitably and quality education.
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Schools Accused Of Ignoring Age Entry policy, 308,000 KCPE Candidates Aged Below 12 Years
