KNEC to spend Ksh 500m in Transporting KCPE, KCSE Papers
The government will spend Sh500 million to hire helicopters to transport examination papers to flood prone areas.
A document tabled before MPs from the Ministry of Education shows Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) requires a total of 15 helicopters to be able to transport the said examinations.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu said the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the Kenya Meteorological Department predicted the El Nino related trends in various parts of the country could have an impact on field administration of examinations.
Reads the document: “Knec is engaging in a multi-agency coordinating team under the leadership of the office of Deputy President and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to assist in provision of the helicopters and other needs as they may arise.”
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Knec clustered the areas to be affected in to six categories including those that are flood hotspots, those that have heavy continuous rainfall, those that have flash floods, those affected by landslides, and those that have continuous rainfall above the long term average as well as those that will get occasional rainfall above the long term energy.
The areas that are flooding hotspots include Nyakach, Nyando, Lower areas of River Nzoia, Lower areas of River Sondu, Narok town, SuswNar, Tana River Delta and Mwatate while those that will experience flash floods include Lodwar, Lokichar, Nairobi, Naivasha, Nakuru and Mombasa.
Those that will experience heavy continuous rainfall include Lake Victoria Basin region, Kisii, Elgeyo Marakwet, Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, West Pokot, Vihiga, Laikipia , Nakuru and Narok Counties, those that will have landslides include West Pokot, Kericho, Elgeyo Marakwet, Mt Elgon, Narok, Nakuru, Baringo, Murang’a, Kitui and Kilungu in Makueni County.
The regions that will have continuous rainfall above the long term average include Rift Valley, Nairobi, Wajir and Mandera counties while those that will have occasional rainfall above the long term average include Turkana, Marsabit and Samburu.
The move came on the day Machogu assured MPs that adequate preparations have been put in place to achieve a credible examination process.
In a comprehensive brief to MPs delivered by Education Chairperson and Tinderet MP Julius Melly on the status of examination preparedness including registration of candidates, distribution of examination materials, storage of exams and marking of exams, Machogu said that regular reviews have been done to ensure that all the necessary pre-requisite measures are in place so as to guarantee effective conduct of the 2023 exams.
Said Machogu: “Necessary safeguards have been put in place to guarantee the efficiency and integrity of the examination and assessment process.”
He however asked the lawmakers to approve an additional Sh3.8 billion that the ministry had requested in the supplementary Estimates 1 Budget for the financial year 2023/24.
The money, he said, will be used to cater for the 2023/24 financial year pending bills that will be settled as first charge to enable teachers to be paid promptly and on time.
Further he said that the said funds will also be used to meet Knec’s projected deficit in the 2023/2024 financial budget required to meet the cost of rising, cost of administering examinations due to the increased candidature, the increased cost of fuel due to the double collection of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations, increased fuel prices at the pump and review of rates of contracted professionals.
He said: “In this regard, the ministry requests the support of the house in securing the requisite budget, to ensure that the administration of national examinations is adequately funded.”
With regards to the dispatch of examination materials, Machogu told MPs that the distribution of the 2023 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) materials was concluded on October 15 which also included the dispatch for the orals and oral materials for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.
On the number of officers who will be involved in the manning of examinations, Machogu said that Knec will involve about 374,579 field personnel.
Of the 374,579 field officers, 181,127 wil oversee KCPE exams, 99,525 will oversee KCSE, while 93877 will oversee KPSEA.
Those who will be hired include 30,848 supervisors, 192, 375 invigilators, 71, 760 centre managers, 294, 983 teachers, 57,931 security officers, 7,029 drivers, 2304 sub county directors of education and assistant county commissioners, 4608 security officers to man containers, 94 county police commanders and 1,728 clerks.
