The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) has issued a warning to schools regarding the upcoming 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams. In a recent circular, KNEC CEO David Njengere emphasized that schools should not register students who do not attend their respective schools. The CEO stressed that the practice of students attending classes in one school and then sitting the final exam in another is strictly prohibited.
“All candidates registered for KNEC examinations must be bona fide, school-going pupils or students in their respective schools,” the circular read in part. The KNEC CEO warned that schools caught registering ghost candidates will face serious consequences, including de-registration as a KNEC examination center. Additionally, the council capped the number of candidates per examination center at 30 and stated that independent candidates per institution must be more than five to be registered with the school.
The government will pay examination fees for candidates in both private and public institutions, however, the council clarified that candidates re-sitting or repeating exams, non-citizens, private candidates registered in Sub-County Private Exam Centers, and those in prisons will have to pay for their own fees. The cost for KCPE is set at Ksh800, while the cost for KCSE, which consists of seven to nine subjects, is between Ksh5,000 and Ksh5,800. For those resitting form four exams, the fees will range from Ksh3,100 to Ksh6,300, depending on the number of exams they plan to take.
The registration period for the 2023 KCPE and KCSE exams will run from February 1 to March 30. The KNEC has stressed the importance of adhering to the guidelines and regulations set forth, in order to ensure a fair and transparent examination process.
