KCPE, KCSE exams likely to be pushed to April 2021 - Magoha

KCPE and KCSE candidates will likely sit the national exams in April next year, Education CS George Magoha has said.

The CS said April is the most likely month candidates can take the exams if schools reopen in September as directed by the President.

"In terms of the new calendar, the government has to consider which is the latest time that we can reopen schools and still do exams," he said.

Magoha added, "The process is ongoing and I think within two weeks, we shall be able to know whether we open in September, we can still do the exams perhaps sometime in April next year."

"In terms of the examination timetable, for now we are hoping, after we consulted the parents, that the latest we can do the exams and still escape is April. Beyond April , we must declare what I don't want to say here," he said.

Magoha appeared before the Senate ad hoc committee on the Covid 19 situation in the country on Thursday.

The committee is chaired by Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja.

The CS however said the decision to reopen schools in the wake of the rising cases of Covid 19 will depend on the stakeholders' agreement.

An Infotrak poll released on Sunday showed 70 per cent of the citizenry is opposed to reopening schools before the pandemic is contained.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on June 1 asked the Education and Health ministries to chart the path towards reopening the institutions of learning.

Of concern, though, is that the increasing number of cases in the country is a sign that the virus is not under control yet.

Infotrak research manager Walter Nyagudi said the biggest concern for Kenyans with regard to reopening of schools is a likely spike in Covid-19 infections among children.